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| 1980 Angelus article: True Devotion to Mary and Total Consecration |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-10-2020, 06:48 AM - Forum: In Honor of Our Lady
- Replies (1)
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The Angelus -April 1980
True Devotion to Mary and Total Consecration
Members of the Society of St. Pius X, and their friends and benefactors, have a special incentive for interest in St. Louis Grignion de Montfort's True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and his Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary which brings about what is called a "Holy Slavery of Love." That special incentive is the fact that one of the most zealous promoters of True Devotion and Total Consecration was none other than St. Pius X himself, a devoted "Slave of Mary."
So ardent was the desire of this Marian Pope to encourage interest in Montfort's method of devotion to Our Lady that he gave a special apostolic blessing to all those who even merely read the Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and, at the same time, he declared:Quote: "We eagerly commend the Treatise on True Devotion." In addition to this, the Holy Father granted a plenary indulgence (on 24 December 1907), under the usual conditions, to be gained on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8th, and on the Feast of Saint Louis de Montfort, April 28, to those who recite the Montfort formula of consecration entitled "Consecration of Ourselves to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, by the Hands of Mary."
This plenary indulgence, which Leo XIII (also a "Slave of Mary") had granted for only seven years, was now granted "in perpetuum"—in perpetuity
What is also of particular significance, among other things, is the dependence of St. Pius X on the Marian doctrine of St. Louis de Montfort in writing the second Encyclical of his Pontificate, Ad Diem Ilium (2 February 1904), commemorating the Golden Jubilee of the proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Pius IX, "a Pontiff of most holy memory," in 1854. And though the character of the Encyclical is obviously Marian throughout, and devotes considerable space to the doctrine of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces, its chief purpose, as the Pope takes special care to point out, is "to restore all things in Christ" which was the theme of his first Encyclical, E Supremi Apostolatus (4 October 1903), as well as the chosen theme and motto of his entire Pontificate. As he explained it, "there is no surer nor easier way than Mary for uniting all persons with Christ." And this is precisely the doctrine of St. Louis de Montfort, as is evident already in the very title of his formula of Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary.
Another Pope—though not the only other one—who is known for his special love for St. Lous de Montfort, and the one who canonized him on 21 July 1947, is Pius XII, himself outstanding in devotion to Our Lady. He spoke of the Montfort True Devotion as "a shorter path to perfection." On the day after the canonization, he again addressed pilgrims and told them that the new Saint was "the guide who leads you to Mary, and, through Mary to Jesus." He then added that "all the Saints were undoubtedly great servants of Mary and they all lead souls to her; Grignion de Montfort is one of those Saints who worked more ardently and more efficaciously to make her loved and served."
But despite his great praise for the Saint and his True Devotion, Pius XII was careful not to give the impression that Montfort's was an exclusive kind of devotion that ruled out other forms of devotion to Mary. He stated that the form and practice of true and traditional devotion to Mary "may vary according to time, place, and personal inclination." He added that "the true and perfect devotion to the Blessed Virgin is not bound up with any modes in such a manner that one of them can claim a monopoly over the others." With this word of caution given first, the Holy Father then proceeded to say:
Quote:"We ardently hope that, in addition to the various manifestations of devotion to the Mother of God and of men, you will draw from the treasury of the writings and example of our Saint that which constitutes the basis of his Marian devotion: his firm conviction of the most powerful intercession of Mary, his resolute will to imitate as far as possible the virtues of the Virgin of virgins, and the vehement ardor of his love for her and for Jesus."
With recommendations such as those of St. Pius X and the saintly Pius XII, given by both word and example, what child of Mary can resist the desire and urge to read and study St. Louis de Montfort's Treatise on True Devotion, as well as other writings of his, and then follow through with the Total Consecration "to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, by the hands of Mary"? The purpose of this article is precisely to encourage readers to give serious attention to Montfort's extraordinary devotion to the Blessed Virgin and to put into practice, as far as possible, what he recommends.
The little book entitled Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary was not given its title by Montfort himself. At his death in 1716, at the age of 43, he left the work in manuscript form, predicting that
Quote:"raging brutes will come in fury to tear with their diabolical teeth this little writing . . . , or at least to envelop it in silence of a coffer, in order that it may not appear."
In literal fulfillment of this prophecy, the manuscript was hidden away for 126 years, until 1842, when it was found "by accident" by a priest of the congregation founded by Montfort, that is, the "Missionaries of the Company of Mary" (Montfort Fathers), at the motherhouse of the congregation in western France. The title of True Devotion was given to the work by the first publishers.
As has been pointed out, even by priests of the Montfort Company of Mary, the title "True Devotion" can be misleading, as it may unwittingly give the impression to some that there are no other forms of "true" devotion to Our Lady except that of St. Louis de Montfort. However, it is a fact that Montfort's devotion to Mary is eminently true in itself and richly deserves the title given to it. Quite appropriately, Montfort explains in much detail—and this makes a good examination of self for anyone professing devotion to Mary!—the various forms of false devotion to Mary, while describing the characteristics and practices of true devotion to her. Furthermore, he does make what some might consider an extravagant claim that his form of devotion to Mary is not only perfect, but is even above all other forms. He writes:
Quote:"I loudly protest that, having read nearly all the books which profess to treat of devotion to Our Lady, and having conversed familiarly with the best and wisest of men of these latter times, I have never known nor heard of any practice of devotion toward her at all equal to the one which I now wish to unfold . . ."
The "Holy Slavery of Love" which is a consequence of Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary is, in itself, basically an ancient idea as Montfort himself observes. A number of the Fathers of the Church are said to have used the expressions "Slave of Mary" and "Slave of the Mother of God," as did also some of the Popes, and there were confraternities of "Holy Slavery" before the time of St. Louis de Montfort (1673-1716). But full credit must be given to Montfort for developing the notion of "Holy Slavery" in such detail and to such perfection, and for applying it, as he does, to Jesus and Mary as to an inseparable unit. Thus, though Montfort's devotion to Mary is not the only "true" kind of devotion to her, it is nevertheless a "perfect" form of devotion to her independently of any comparison with other forms.
The perfection of Montfort's form of devotion to Mary is due to the fact that it calls for a total giving of oneself, not just to Mary alone, but rather to Jesus, Whom Montfort loves to acknowledge as the "Incarnate Wisdom," through the hands of Mary. Thus, if one is a true "Slave of Mary," he is first and above all a "Slave of Jesus," being subject to Him as God and then to her as Mother of God. The very notion of "slavery" implies total subjection and subservience, but there is obviously nothing degrading or ignoble, nor could there possibly be, in the total subjection of "Holy Slavery" to Jesus and Mary. "Holy Slavery" logically follows upon Total Consecration, for such consecration implies and means "total surrender" and "total abandonment" to Jesus and Mary.
It must be admitted, and this was suggested by the words of Pius XII, quoted above, that other Saints and holy persons have taught and practiced the essence of Montfort's true and perfect devotion to Mary, inasmuch as they, too, have surrendered themselves totally into her hands, though they may not have expressed themselves as Montfort did nor adopted the "unequalled" practices of devotion to her of which he speaks.
St. Louis de Montfort ties this doctrine in with the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ. He says:
Quote:"If Jesus Christ, the Head of men, is born in her . . . the members of this Head must also be born in her by a necessary consequence . . . The Head and members are born of the same Mother."
He explains that, as in the natural order a head cannot be born without the members, and vice versa, so also is this true in the supernatural order. Thus, then, by consenting to the Incarnation and thereupon physically conceiving Christ the Head through the power of the Holy Ghost, Mary by that very fact spiritually conceived all those who with Him form but one Mystical Body. This is also the teaching of St. Pius X in Ad Diem Illum. Montfort's explanation shows how justified Mary is in claiming our total surrender of ourselves to her and how logically should follow our Total Consecation to Jesus through Mary.
In addition to the foregoing, Montfort also brings in the Co-Redemption, that is, Mary's total union with the Divine Redeemer in the act of the Redemption. Just to take one example of this union, look at this beautiful description, in one of Montfort's numerous hymns (nearly all still only in French), of the total union of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary in the act of the Redemption:
Quote:"Their Hearts, united by strong and close ties, are offered both together to be two victims to hold back the chastisement which our sins merit."
It is, then, also because of Mary's unique share in the work of Redemption that she is entitled to claim us, the redeemed, as her own, just as her Divine Son, the Redeemer, does. It is therefore to them together that we should consecrate ourselves without reserve to them together as Redeemer and Co-Redemptrix.
The only logical conclusion from all the foregoing is that, as the Saint says, we should "call ourselves and make ourselves the loving slaves of the Most Holy Virgin, in order to be, by that very means, the more perfectly the slaves of Jesus."
The Total Consecration of ourselves to Jesus and Mary, which means making us their "loving slaves," obviously demands a careful preparation for such a decisive act, which is in reality a renewal of our baptismal vows whereby we rejected an "unholy slavery" to Satan. Montfort himself tells us, in his Treatise on True Devotion, how one should prepare for Total Consecration. He goes into great details, insisting that we should "enter into the spirit" of this act and not merely recite empty words or perform lifeless actions. It is true that all the details are not absolutely essential for a genuine Total Consecration nor are they obligatory, since the manner of preparation and the length of time to be given to it, as Montfort himself acknowledges, will depend upon each individual, yet a longer and more thorough preparation is highly recommended for the average person.
A booklet entitled "Preparation for Total Consecration According to St. Louis de Montfort" has been provided as an aid by the Montfort Fathers. Among other things this booklet outlines six suggested schedules of 33 days each, during which one can follow daily program of preparation. Thus, e. g., one schedule suggests beginning the 33-day preparation on April 28, Feast of St. Louis de Montfort, and concluding on May 30, with the Total Consecration taking place on May 31st, the day that Pius XII originally designated as the Feast of Mary, Queen of the Universe. Or, according to another suggested schedule, one could begin the preparation on July 13th and conclude on August 14th, with the Total Consecration taking place on August 15th, the Feast of Our Lady's Assumption.
Though this article has brought out a few of the salient features of the Montfort way of devotion to Our Lady, and of devotion to Jesus through Mary, nothing of what is written here can compare with the reading of the actual words of St. Louis de Montfort in his Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. And we can do not better than to give the last word of St. Pius X, quoting once again his words cited at the beginning of this article: "We eagerly recommend the Treatise on True Devotion."
- This article was prepared by a Traditional Catholic Priest
[Emphasis - The Catacombs]
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| 1980 Angelus article: True Devotion to Mary and Total Consecration |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-10-2020, 06:48 AM - Forum: Our Lady
- Replies (1)
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The Angelus -April 1980
True Devotion to Mary and Total Consecration
Members of the Society of St. Pius X, and their friends and benefactors, have a special incentive for interest in St. Louis Grignion de Montfort's True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and his Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary which brings about what is called a "Holy Slavery of Love." That special incentive is the fact that one of the most zealous promoters of True Devotion and Total Consecration was none other than St. Pius X himself, a devoted "Slave of Mary."
So ardent was the desire of this Marian Pope to encourage interest in Montfort's method of devotion to Our Lady that he gave a special apostolic blessing to all those who even merely read the Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and, at the same time, he declared:Quote: "We eagerly commend the Treatise on True Devotion." In addition to this, the Holy Father granted a plenary indulgence (on 24 December 1907), under the usual conditions, to be gained on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8th, and on the Feast of Saint Louis de Montfort, April 28, to those who recite the Montfort formula of consecration entitled "Consecration of Ourselves to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, by the Hands of Mary."
This plenary indulgence, which Leo XIII (also a "Slave of Mary") had granted for only seven years, was now granted "in perpetuum"—in perpetuity
What is also of particular significance, among other things, is the dependence of St. Pius X on the Marian doctrine of St. Louis de Montfort in writing the second Encyclical of his Pontificate, Ad Diem Ilium (2 February 1904), commemorating the Golden Jubilee of the proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Pius IX, "a Pontiff of most holy memory," in 1854. And though the character of the Encyclical is obviously Marian throughout, and devotes considerable space to the doctrine of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces, its chief purpose, as the Pope takes special care to point out, is "to restore all things in Christ" which was the theme of his first Encyclical, E Supremi Apostolatus (4 October 1903), as well as the chosen theme and motto of his entire Pontificate. As he explained it, "there is no surer nor easier way than Mary for uniting all persons with Christ." And this is precisely the doctrine of St. Louis de Montfort, as is evident already in the very title of his formula of Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary.
Another Pope—though not the only other one—who is known for his special love for St. Lous de Montfort, and the one who canonized him on 21 July 1947, is Pius XII, himself outstanding in devotion to Our Lady. He spoke of the Montfort True Devotion as "a shorter path to perfection." On the day after the canonization, he again addressed pilgrims and told them that the new Saint was "the guide who leads you to Mary, and, through Mary to Jesus." He then added that "all the Saints were undoubtedly great servants of Mary and they all lead souls to her; Grignion de Montfort is one of those Saints who worked more ardently and more efficaciously to make her loved and served."
But despite his great praise for the Saint and his True Devotion, Pius XII was careful not to give the impression that Montfort's was an exclusive kind of devotion that ruled out other forms of devotion to Mary. He stated that the form and practice of true and traditional devotion to Mary "may vary according to time, place, and personal inclination." He added that "the true and perfect devotion to the Blessed Virgin is not bound up with any modes in such a manner that one of them can claim a monopoly over the others." With this word of caution given first, the Holy Father then proceeded to say:
Quote:"We ardently hope that, in addition to the various manifestations of devotion to the Mother of God and of men, you will draw from the treasury of the writings and example of our Saint that which constitutes the basis of his Marian devotion: his firm conviction of the most powerful intercession of Mary, his resolute will to imitate as far as possible the virtues of the Virgin of virgins, and the vehement ardor of his love for her and for Jesus."
With recommendations such as those of St. Pius X and the saintly Pius XII, given by both word and example, what child of Mary can resist the desire and urge to read and study St. Louis de Montfort's Treatise on True Devotion, as well as other writings of his, and then follow through with the Total Consecration "to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, by the hands of Mary"? The purpose of this article is precisely to encourage readers to give serious attention to Montfort's extraordinary devotion to the Blessed Virgin and to put into practice, as far as possible, what he recommends.
The little book entitled Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary was not given its title by Montfort himself. At his death in 1716, at the age of 43, he left the work in manuscript form, predicting that
Quote:"raging brutes will come in fury to tear with their diabolical teeth this little writing . . . , or at least to envelop it in silence of a coffer, in order that it may not appear."
In literal fulfillment of this prophecy, the manuscript was hidden away for 126 years, until 1842, when it was found "by accident" by a priest of the congregation founded by Montfort, that is, the "Missionaries of the Company of Mary" (Montfort Fathers), at the motherhouse of the congregation in western France. The title of True Devotion was given to the work by the first publishers.
As has been pointed out, even by priests of the Montfort Company of Mary, the title "True Devotion" can be misleading, as it may unwittingly give the impression to some that there are no other forms of "true" devotion to Our Lady except that of St. Louis de Montfort. However, it is a fact that Montfort's devotion to Mary is eminently true in itself and richly deserves the title given to it. Quite appropriately, Montfort explains in much detail—and this makes a good examination of self for anyone professing devotion to Mary!—the various forms of false devotion to Mary, while describing the characteristics and practices of true devotion to her. Furthermore, he does make what some might consider an extravagant claim that his form of devotion to Mary is not only perfect, but is even above all other forms. He writes:
Quote:"I loudly protest that, having read nearly all the books which profess to treat of devotion to Our Lady, and having conversed familiarly with the best and wisest of men of these latter times, I have never known nor heard of any practice of devotion toward her at all equal to the one which I now wish to unfold . . ."
The "Holy Slavery of Love" which is a consequence of Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary is, in itself, basically an ancient idea as Montfort himself observes. A number of the Fathers of the Church are said to have used the expressions "Slave of Mary" and "Slave of the Mother of God," as did also some of the Popes, and there were confraternities of "Holy Slavery" before the time of St. Louis de Montfort (1673-1716). But full credit must be given to Montfort for developing the notion of "Holy Slavery" in such detail and to such perfection, and for applying it, as he does, to Jesus and Mary as to an inseparable unit. Thus, though Montfort's devotion to Mary is not the only "true" kind of devotion to her, it is nevertheless a "perfect" form of devotion to her independently of any comparison with other forms.
The perfection of Montfort's form of devotion to Mary is due to the fact that it calls for a total giving of oneself, not just to Mary alone, but rather to Jesus, Whom Montfort loves to acknowledge as the "Incarnate Wisdom," through the hands of Mary. Thus, if one is a true "Slave of Mary," he is first and above all a "Slave of Jesus," being subject to Him as God and then to her as Mother of God. The very notion of "slavery" implies total subjection and subservience, but there is obviously nothing degrading or ignoble, nor could there possibly be, in the total subjection of "Holy Slavery" to Jesus and Mary. "Holy Slavery" logically follows upon Total Consecration, for such consecration implies and means "total surrender" and "total abandonment" to Jesus and Mary.
It must be admitted, and this was suggested by the words of Pius XII, quoted above, that other Saints and holy persons have taught and practiced the essence of Montfort's true and perfect devotion to Mary, inasmuch as they, too, have surrendered themselves totally into her hands, though they may not have expressed themselves as Montfort did nor adopted the "unequalled" practices of devotion to her of which he speaks.
St. Louis de Montfort ties this doctrine in with the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ. He says:
Quote:"If Jesus Christ, the Head of men, is born in her . . . the members of this Head must also be born in her by a necessary consequence . . . The Head and members are born of the same Mother."
He explains that, as in the natural order a head cannot be born without the members, and vice versa, so also is this true in the supernatural order. Thus, then, by consenting to the Incarnation and thereupon physically conceiving Christ the Head through the power of the Holy Ghost, Mary by that very fact spiritually conceived all those who with Him form but one Mystical Body. This is also the teaching of St. Pius X in Ad Diem Illum. Montfort's explanation shows how justified Mary is in claiming our total surrender of ourselves to her and how logically should follow our Total Consecation to Jesus through Mary.
In addition to the foregoing, Montfort also brings in the Co-Redemption, that is, Mary's total union with the Divine Redeemer in the act of the Redemption. Just to take one example of this union, look at this beautiful description, in one of Montfort's numerous hymns (nearly all still only in French), of the total union of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary in the act of the Redemption:
Quote:"Their Hearts, united by strong and close ties, are offered both together to be two victims to hold back the chastisement which our sins merit."
It is, then, also because of Mary's unique share in the work of Redemption that she is entitled to claim us, the redeemed, as her own, just as her Divine Son, the Redeemer, does. It is therefore to them together that we should consecrate ourselves without reserve to them together as Redeemer and Co-Redemptrix.
The only logical conclusion from all the foregoing is that, as the Saint says, we should "call ourselves and make ourselves the loving slaves of the Most Holy Virgin, in order to be, by that very means, the more perfectly the slaves of Jesus."
The Total Consecration of ourselves to Jesus and Mary, which means making us their "loving slaves," obviously demands a careful preparation for such a decisive act, which is in reality a renewal of our baptismal vows whereby we rejected an "unholy slavery" to Satan. Montfort himself tells us, in his Treatise on True Devotion, how one should prepare for Total Consecration. He goes into great details, insisting that we should "enter into the spirit" of this act and not merely recite empty words or perform lifeless actions. It is true that all the details are not absolutely essential for a genuine Total Consecration nor are they obligatory, since the manner of preparation and the length of time to be given to it, as Montfort himself acknowledges, will depend upon each individual, yet a longer and more thorough preparation is highly recommended for the average person.
A booklet entitled "Preparation for Total Consecration According to St. Louis de Montfort" has been provided as an aid by the Montfort Fathers. Among other things this booklet outlines six suggested schedules of 33 days each, during which one can follow daily program of preparation. Thus, e. g., one schedule suggests beginning the 33-day preparation on April 28, Feast of St. Louis de Montfort, and concluding on May 30, with the Total Consecration taking place on May 31st, the day that Pius XII originally designated as the Feast of Mary, Queen of the Universe. Or, according to another suggested schedule, one could begin the preparation on July 13th and conclude on August 14th, with the Total Consecration taking place on August 15th, the Feast of Our Lady's Assumption.
Though this article has brought out a few of the salient features of the Montfort way of devotion to Our Lady, and of devotion to Jesus through Mary, nothing of what is written here can compare with the reading of the actual words of St. Louis de Montfort in his Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. And we can do not better than to give the last word of St. Pius X, quoting once again his words cited at the beginning of this article: "We eagerly recommend the Treatise on True Devotion."
- This article was prepared by a Traditional Catholic Priest
[Emphasis - The Catacombs]
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| Chaplet of St. Michael |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-10-2020, 06:34 AM - Forum: Prayers and Devotionals
- No Replies
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Reposted here from the Archived Catacombs:
The Chaplet of St. Michael
So rich a reward for so small an effort
Promises of the Holy Archangel
Appearing one day to Antonia d' Astonac, a most devout servant of God, St. Michael told her (it is related in the story of her life) that he wished to be honoured by nine salutations corresponding to the nine Choirs of Angels, which should consist of one Pater and three Aves in honour of each of the angelic choirs. The Archangel promised to obtain for all who should venerate him in this way before receiving Holy Communion, that an Angel from each of the nine Choirs should be assigned to accompany them to the Holy Table. He promised, moreover, his continual assistance during life, and likewise that of the Holy Angels, to all who should recite the nine salutations every day; and also, after death, the deliverance of their souls and of those of relatives from the pains of Purgatory.
Indulgences granted by Pius IX (it was approved by Pope Pius IX in 1851)
1. An Indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines for each recitation of the Chaplet.
2. An Indulgence of 100 days for wearing the Chaplet or kissing the Medal.
3. A Plenary Indulgence once a month, and on the following Feasts: The Apparition of St. Michael, May 8th; the Dedication Day of the Holy Archangel, September 29th; the Feast of St. Gabriel, March 24th; the Feast of St. Raphael, October 24th; and the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, October 2nd.
THE CHAPLET OF ST. MICHAEL
To be done on the Medal
V. O God, come to my assistance.
R. O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be; etc.
I. In honor of the SERAPHIM: By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Seraphim, may the Lord make us worthy to burn with the fire of perfect charity. Amen. Our Father, 3 Hail Marys
II. Salutation -- 1 Our Father, 3 Hail Marys: in honor of the CHERUBIM.
By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Cherubim, may the Lord grant us grace to leave the ways of wickedness and run in the paths of Christian perfection. Amen.
III. Salutation -- 1 Our Father, 3 Hail Marys: in honor of the THRONES.
By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Thrones, may the Lord infuse into our hearts a true and sincere spirit of humility. Amen.
IV. Salutation -- 1 Our Father, 3 Hail Marys: in honor of the DOMINIONS.
By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir Dominions, may the Lord give us grace to govern our senses and subdue our unruly passions. Amen.
V. Salutation -- 1 Our Father, 3 Hail Marys: in honor of the POWERS.
By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir Powers, may the Lord protect our souls against the snares and temptations of the devil. Amen.
VI. Salutation -- 1 Our Father, 3 Hail Marys: in honor of the VIRTUES.
By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Virtues, may the Lord preserve us from evil, and not allow us to fall into temptation. Amen.
VII. Salutation -- 1 Our Father, 3 Hail Marys: in honor of the PRINCIPALITIES.
By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Principalities, may God fill our souls with a true spirit of obedience. Amen.
VIII. Salutation -- 1 Our Father, 3 Hail Marys: in honor of the ARCHANGELS.
By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Archangels, may the Lord give us perseverance and Faith in all good works in order that we may gain the glory of Heaven. Amen.
IX. Salutation -- 1 Our Father, 3 Hail Marys: in honor of the ANGELS.
By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Angels, may the Lord grant us to be protected by them in this mortal life and conducted hereafter to the eternal glory. Amen.
At the end say four Our Fathers, one on each of the four large beads nearest the medal.
The first Our Father in honor of St. Michael.
The second Our Father in honor of St. Gabriel.
The third Our Father in honor of St. Raphael.
The fourth Our Father in honor of your Guardian Angel.
Then say the following Invocation:
O glorious Prince St. Michael, Leader and Commander of the Heavenly Host, Guardian of souls, Vanquisher of rebel spirits, Servant in the house of the Divine King, and our glorious Guide, thou art brilliant in holiness and power. Deliver us from all evil, for we turn to thee with confidence and enable us by thy gracious protection to serve God more faithfully everyday.
V. Pray for us O glorious St. Michael, Prince of the Church of Jesus Christ.
R. That we may be made worthy of His promises.
Let Us Pray.
Almighty and everlasting God, since in Thy infinite goodness and mercy Thou desireth the salvation of all men, Thou hast appointed the most glorious Archangel, St. Michael Prince of Thy Church. Make us worthy, we beg of Thee to be delivered by his powerful protection from all our enemies, that we may not be overcome by them at the hour of death, but that we may be conducted by St. Michael into the holy presence of Thy Divine Majesty. This, we beg through the merits of Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
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| The Five First Saturdays' Devotion |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-10-2020, 06:31 AM - Forum: In Honor of Our Lady
- Replies (2)
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The Five First Saturdays' Devotion
MARY'S GREAT PROMISE AT FATIMA
THE observance of the First Saturday in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is intended to console her Immaculate Heart, and to make, reparation to it for all the blasphemies and ingratitude of men. This devotion and the wonderful promises connected with it were revealed by the Blessed Virgin with these words recorded by Lucy, one of the three children to whom the Blessed Virgin appeared at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917:
I promise to help at the hour of death, with the graces needed for salvation, whoever on the First Saturday of five consecutive months shall:
1. Confess and receive Holy Communion.
2. Recite five decades of the Rosary.
3. And keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on one or more of the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.
ACT OF REPARATION TO BE RECITED ON THE FIRST SATURDAYS
O MOST holy Virgin and our Mother, we listen with grief to the complaints of thine Immaculate Heart surrounded with the thorns which ungrateful men place therein at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. Moved by the ardent desire of loving thee as our Mother and of promoting a true devotion to thy Immaculate Heart, we prostrate ourselves at thy feet to prove the sorrow we feel for the grievances that men cause thee, and to atone, by means of our prayers and sacrifices, for the offenses with which men return thy tender love.
Obtain for them and for us the pardon of so many sins. A word from thee will obtain grace and amendment for us all.
Hasten, O Lady, the conversion of sinners that they may love Jesus and cease to offend the Lord, already so much offended and will not fall into Hell.
Turn thy eyes of mercy toward us that henceforth we may love God with all our heart while on earth and enjoy Him forever in Heaven. Amen.
NOTE: Confession during the week, preceding the first Friday, will suffice for the first Saturday, or conversely when Saturday is the first day of the month. The Rosary may he recited at any convenient time of the day, and the fifteen-minute meditation may be made at any time during the day on one or more of the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary. A sermon for the occasion may be substituted for the meditation. Meditation consists in thinking over the events as if one were present at the happenings mentioned in the mystery, or in considering what one would have done had he been present during the event considered in a particular mystery, all in the spirit of reparation to the Immaculate Heart.
ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
QUEEN of the Most Holy Rosary, Refuge of the Human Race, Victress in all God's battles, we humbly prostrate ourselves before thy throne, confident that we shall receive mercy, grace and bountiful assistance and protection in the present calamity, not through our own inadequate merits, but solely through the great goodness of thy Maternal Heart.
To thee, to thy Immaculate Heart in this, humanity's tragic hour, we consign and consecrate ourselves in union not only with the Mystical Body of thy Son, Holy Mother Church, now in such suffering and agony in so many places and sorely tried in so many ways, but also with the entire world, torn by fierce strife, consumed in a fire of hate, victim of its own wickedness.
May the sight of the widespread material and moral destruction of the sorrows and anguish of countless fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, and innocent children of the great number of lives cut off in the flower of youth, of the bodies mangled in horrible slaughter, and of the tortured and agonized souls in danger of being lost eternally move thee to compassion. O Mother of Mercy obtain peace for us from God, and, above all, procure for us those graces which prepare, establish and assure the peace.
Queen of Peace, pray for us and give to the world now at war, the peace for which all peoples are longing, peace in the truth, justice and charity of Christ. Give peace to the warring nations and to the souls of men, that in the tranquillity of order the Kingdom of God may prevail.
Extend thy protection to the infidels and to all those still in the shadow of death give them peace and grant that on them, too, may shine the sun of truth that they may unite with us in proclaiming before the one and only Savior of the World: "Glory to God in the highest and peace to men of good will."
Give peace to the peoples separated by error or by discord and especially to those who profess such singular devotion to thee, and in whose homes an honored place was ever accorded thy venerated image today, perhaps often kept hidden to await better days bring them back to the one fold of Christ, under the one true Shepherd.
Obtain peace and complete freedom for the Holy Church of God, stay the spreading flood of modem paganism; enkindle in the faithful the love of purity, the practice of the Christian life and an apostolic zeal so that the servants of God may increase in merit and in number.
Lastly, as the Church and the entire human race were consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, so that in reposing all hope in Him, He might become for them the sign and pledge of Victory and salvation; so we, in like manner, consecrate ourselves forever also to thee and to thine Immaculate Heart, our Mother and Queen, that thy love and patronage may hasten the triumph of the Kingdom of God and that all nations, at peace with one another and with God may proclaim thee blessed and with thee may raise their voices to resound from pole to pole the chant of the everlasting Magnificat of glory, love and gratitude to the Heart of Jesus, where alone they can find truth and peace.
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| The Five First Saturdays' Devotion |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-10-2020, 06:31 AM - Forum: Our Lady
- Replies (3)
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The Five First Saturdays' Devotion
MARY'S GREAT PROMISE AT FATIMA
THE observance of the First Saturday in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is intended to console her Immaculate Heart, and to make, reparation to it for all the blasphemies and ingratitude of men. This devotion and the wonderful promises connected with it were revealed by the Blessed Virgin with these words recorded by Lucy, one of the three children to whom the Blessed Virgin appeared at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917:
I promise to help at the hour of death, with the graces needed for salvation, whoever on the First Saturday of five consecutive months shall:
1. Confess and receive Holy Communion.
2. Recite five decades of the Rosary.
3. And keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on one or more of the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.
ACT OF REPARATION TO BE RECITED ON THE FIRST SATURDAYS
O MOST holy Virgin and our Mother, we listen with grief to the complaints of thine Immaculate Heart surrounded with the thorns which ungrateful men place therein at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. Moved by the ardent desire of loving thee as our Mother and of promoting a true devotion to thy Immaculate Heart, we prostrate ourselves at thy feet to prove the sorrow we feel for the grievances that men cause thee, and to atone, by means of our prayers and sacrifices, for the offenses with which men return thy tender love.
Obtain for them and for us the pardon of so many sins. A word from thee will obtain grace and amendment for us all.
Hasten, O Lady, the conversion of sinners that they may love Jesus and cease to offend the Lord, already so much offended and will not fall into Hell.
Turn thy eyes of mercy toward us that henceforth we may love God with all our heart while on earth and enjoy Him forever in Heaven. Amen.
NOTE: Confession during the week, preceding the first Friday, will suffice for the first Saturday, or conversely when Saturday is the first day of the month. The Rosary may he recited at any convenient time of the day, and the fifteen-minute meditation may be made at any time during the day on one or more of the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary. A sermon for the occasion may be substituted for the meditation. Meditation consists in thinking over the events as if one were present at the happenings mentioned in the mystery, or in considering what one would have done had he been present during the event considered in a particular mystery, all in the spirit of reparation to the Immaculate Heart.
ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
QUEEN of the Most Holy Rosary, Refuge of the Human Race, Victress in all God's battles, we humbly prostrate ourselves before thy throne, confident that we shall receive mercy, grace and bountiful assistance and protection in the present calamity, not through our own inadequate merits, but solely through the great goodness of thy Maternal Heart.
To thee, to thy Immaculate Heart in this, humanity's tragic hour, we consign and consecrate ourselves in union not only with the Mystical Body of thy Son, Holy Mother Church, now in such suffering and agony in so many places and sorely tried in so many ways, but also with the entire world, torn by fierce strife, consumed in a fire of hate, victim of its own wickedness.
May the sight of the widespread material and moral destruction of the sorrows and anguish of countless fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, and innocent children of the great number of lives cut off in the flower of youth, of the bodies mangled in horrible slaughter, and of the tortured and agonized souls in danger of being lost eternally move thee to compassion. O Mother of Mercy obtain peace for us from God, and, above all, procure for us those graces which prepare, establish and assure the peace.
Queen of Peace, pray for us and give to the world now at war, the peace for which all peoples are longing, peace in the truth, justice and charity of Christ. Give peace to the warring nations and to the souls of men, that in the tranquillity of order the Kingdom of God may prevail.
Extend thy protection to the infidels and to all those still in the shadow of death give them peace and grant that on them, too, may shine the sun of truth that they may unite with us in proclaiming before the one and only Savior of the World: "Glory to God in the highest and peace to men of good will."
Give peace to the peoples separated by error or by discord and especially to those who profess such singular devotion to thee, and in whose homes an honored place was ever accorded thy venerated image today, perhaps often kept hidden to await better days bring them back to the one fold of Christ, under the one true Shepherd.
Obtain peace and complete freedom for the Holy Church of God, stay the spreading flood of modem paganism; enkindle in the faithful the love of purity, the practice of the Christian life and an apostolic zeal so that the servants of God may increase in merit and in number.
Lastly, as the Church and the entire human race were consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, so that in reposing all hope in Him, He might become for them the sign and pledge of Victory and salvation; so we, in like manner, consecrate ourselves forever also to thee and to thine Immaculate Heart, our Mother and Queen, that thy love and patronage may hasten the triumph of the Kingdom of God and that all nations, at peace with one another and with God may proclaim thee blessed and with thee may raise their voices to resound from pole to pole the chant of the everlasting Magnificat of glory, love and gratitude to the Heart of Jesus, where alone they can find truth and peace.
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| December 10th - Transalation of the Holy House of Loreto and St. Eulalia of Merida |
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Posted by: Elizabeth - 12-10-2020, 12:31 AM - Forum: December
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Translation of the Holy House of Loreto
(1291, 1294)
Towards the end of the thirteenth century, the terrible news reached Europe that the Holy Land was lost to the Christians, who during two centuries had been able to maintain the Latin kingdom there by virtue of their repeated Crusades. But at the time the Church was deploring this painful loss, a new joy was given them: the holy house of Nazareth — site of the birth of the Mother of God, of Her early education and of the Annunciation by the Angel Gabriel of the wondrous news of the Incarnation of the Son of God — had been found, transported miraculously, near Tersatz in Dalmatia (Yugoslavia) on May 10th of the year 1291. Between Tersatz and nearby Fiume, the residents of the region beheld one morning an edifice, in a location where never had any been seen before. After the residents of the region talked among themselves of the remarkable little house surmounted by a bell tower, and which stood without foundations on the bare ground, describing its altar, an ancient statue of Our Lady, and other religious objects which their wondering eyes had seen within it, another surprise came to astound them once more.
Their bishop suddenly appeared in their midst, cured from a lingering illness which had kept him bedridden for several months. He had prayed to be able to go see the prodigy for himself, and the Mother of God had appeared to him, saying, in substance: My son, you called Me; I am here to give you powerful assistance and reveal to you the secret you desire to know. The holy dwelling is the very house where I was born... It is there that when the announcement was brought by the Archangel Gabriel, I conceived the divine Child by the operation of the Holy Spirit. It is there that the Word was made flesh! After My decease, the Apostles consecrated this dwelling, illustrated by such elevated mysteries, and sought the honor of celebrating the August Sacrifice there. The altar is the very one which the Apostle Saint Peter placed there. The crucifix was introduced by the Apostles, and the cedar statue is My faithful image, made by the hand of the Evangelist Saint Luke... Your sudden return to health from so long an illness will bear witness to this prodigy. Nicolas Frangipane, governor of the territory of Ancona, was absent, but when the news was carried to him, he returned from a war in order to verify its authenticity. He sent to Nazareth, at the eastern limits of the Mediterranean Sea, the bishop and three other persons, to examine the original site of the house. Indeed the house was no longer there, but its foundations remained and were found conformable in every detail of dimension and substance, to the stones at the base of the house now in Dalmatia. The testimony of the delegates was drafted according to legal formalities, and confirmed by a solemn oath.
Then, after three years spent in Dalmatia, the house disappeared. Paul Della Selva, a holy hermit of that period and of the region of Ancona, wrote: During the night of December 10th, a light from heaven became visible to several inhabitants of the shores of the Adriatic Sea, and a divine harmony woke them that they might contemplate a marvel exceeding all the forces of nature. They saw and contemplated a house, surrounded by heavenly splendor, transported through the air. The angelic burden was brought to rest in a forest, where again the local residents were able to contemplate the signal relics which it contained. The antique Greek crucifix mentioned by Our Lady was made of wood, and attached to it was a canvas on which the words Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, were painted. The cedar statue of the Virgin had been painted also; she wore a red robe and a blue cloak and held the Infant Jesus in Her arms. His right hand was raised in blessing; His left hand held a globe, symbol of His sovereign power.
The story was far from ended. The house moved again, after robbers began to intercept pilgrims coming through the forest to visit the marvel. Twice more it rose from its place, the first time coming to rest on a private terrain, which became then a source of dispute between two brothers; and finally on a hilltop where a dusty and uneven public road became its permanent site. For centuries the people of Dalmatia came across the sea on pilgrimage, often crying out to Our Lady and Her House to come back to them! Finally in 1559, after one such visit by 300 pilgrims, the Sovereign Pontiff had a hospice built at Loreto for families who preferred to remain near the house, rather than return to a land deprived of its sacred presence.
The reddish-black stones of the house are a sort entirely foreign to Italy; the mortar cementing them is again entirely different from the volcanic-ash-based substance used in that country. The residents of the region put up a heavy brick wall to support the house, which was exposed to the torrential rains and winds of the hilltop and was completely without foundation. But no sooner was that wall completed, than they came back one morning to find it had moved away from the house, as if to express its reverence, to a distance which permitted a small child to walk around it with a torch in hand. The Author of the miracle wanted it to be well understood that He who had brought it without human assistance, was capable also of maintaining it there where He had placed it, without human concourse.
The episodes concerning the Translation of the Holy House, all duly verified, were consigned in documents borne to Rome to the Sovereign Pontiffs at various epochs. Pope Sixtus IV declared that the house was the property of the Holy See, and assigned duties to a specified personnel named to be its custodians. By Pope Leo X the indulgence applicable to the visit of several churches of Rome was accorded also to a pilgrimage to Loreto. Eventually a magnificent basilica was built around the house, which within the basilica was itself enhanced by a white marble edicule. Pope Clement IX in 1667, placed the story of the House in the Roman Martyrology for the 10th of December under the title: At Loreto, in the territory of Ancona, translation of the Holy House of Mary, Mother of God, in which the Word was made flesh. Pope Benedict XIV, a prodigious scholar before he became Pope, established the identity of the house with that of Nazareth, against its detractors, and later worked for the embellishment of the August sanctuary. The feast of Our Lady of Loreto is observed in many provinces of the Church, inscribed in the Proper of their dioceses by their bishops.
Saint Eulalia of Merida
Child Martyr
(† 303)
Saint Eulalia was a native of Merida, in Spain. The daughter of Christian parents, she was taught in her childhood by a very holy priest of that city. She was but twelve years old when the bloody edicts of Diocletian were issued. Her parents, knowing of her vow of virginity and fearing that her zeal would cause her to be a victim of the persecutions, sent her to their house in the country. Eulalia indeed escaped, as they feared, and returned to the city to present herself, with her young companion and Christian friend, Julie, before the cruel Calpurnianus, representing the viceroy of Diocletian. She reproached him for attempting to destroy souls, by compelling them to renounce the only true God.
The officer commanded that she be seized, and at first tried to win her over by flattery. Failing in this, he had her flogged and resorted to threats, causing the most dreadful instruments of torture to be placed before her eyes, and saying to her: All this you shall escape, if you will but touch a little salt and frankincense with the tip of your finger. Provoked by these seducing flatteries, our Saint threw down the idol before her, and trampled upon the cake placed there for the sacrifice. At the judge's order, two executioners tore her tender sides with iron hooks, so as to leave the very bones bare, then tortured her with burning torches, and dragged her by her hair to the site of execution. She said to the cruel persecutor, Calpurnianus, look well at me so that you may recognize me on the day of the Final Judgment, when both of us will appear before Jesus Christ, our common Lord, I to receive the reward of my torments, and you, the chastisement of your inhumanity toward the Christians. She was covered with hot coals; the fire caught in her hair and surrounded her head and face, and she suffocated amid the smoke and flames. The persecutor commanded that her body be left untended for three days, but Providence covered it with a blanket of snow, which seemed to whiten it and give it a marvelous beauty.
The Christians buried Saint Eulalia in Merida. Later her body was transported to Oviedo, Spain, where it was placed in a chapel dedicated to her memory, within the large church. She is the patroness of that city, and many graces have been received when her relics are transported in processions in times of public necessity.
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| St. Alphonsus Liguori: Prayer for the Poor Souls |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-09-2020, 09:05 PM - Forum: For the Souls in Purgatory
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Reposted from the Archived Catacombs:
PRAYER FOR THE POOR SOULS
By: St. Alphonsus Marie Liguori
![[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3...%3DApi&f=1]](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.-Ei6Rb1eCUpC8XrPXouTOgHaFd%26pid%3DApi&f=1)
O most sweet Jesus, through the bloody sweat which Thou didst suffer in the Garden of Gethsemane, have mercy on these Blessed Souls. Have mercy on them.
R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.
O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer during Thy most cruel scourging, have mercy on them.
R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.
O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer in Thy most painful crowning with thorns, have mercy on them.
R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.
O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer in carrying Thy cross to Calvary, have mercy on them.
R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.
O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer during Thy most cruel Crucifixion, have mercy on them.
R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.
O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer in Thy most bitter agony on the Cross, have mercy on them.
R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.
O most sweet Jesus, through the immense pain which Thou didst suffer in breathing forth Thy Blessed Soul, have mercy on them.
R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.
Amen.
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| Pope Pius XI: Quas Primas |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-09-2020, 07:07 PM - Forum: Encyclicals
- Replies (1)
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Quas Primas
On the Feast of Christ the King
Pope Pius XI - December 11, 1925
To Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See.
Venerable Brethren, Greeting and the Apostolic Benediction.
In the first Encyclical Letter which We addressed at the beginning of Our Pontificate to the Bishops of the universal Church, We referred to the chief causes of the difficulties under which mankind was laboring. And We remember saying that these manifold evils in the world were due to the fact that the majority of men had thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives; that these had no place either in private affairs or in politics: and we said further, that as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations. Men must look for the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ; and that We promised to do as far as lay in Our power. In the Kingdom of Christ, that is, it seemed to Us that peace could not be more effectually restored nor fixed upon a firmer basis than through the restoration of the Empire of Our Lord. We were led in the meantime to indulge the hope of a brighter future at the sight of a more widespread and keener interest evinced in Christ and his Church, the one Source of Salvation, a sign that men who had formerly spurned the rule of our Redeemer and had exiled themselves from his kingdom were preparing, and even hastening, to return to the duty of obedience.
2. The many notable and memorable events which have occurred during this Holy Year have given great honor and glory to Our Lord and King, the Founder of the Church.
3. At the Missionary Exhibition men have been deeply impressed in seeing the increasing zeal of the Church for the spread of the kingdom of her Spouse to the most far distant regions of the earth. They have seen how many countries have been won to the Catholic name through the unremitting labor and self-sacrifice of missionaries, and the vastness of the regions which have yet to be subjected to the sweet and saving yoke of our King. All those who in the course of the Holy Year have thronged to this city under the leadership of their Bishops or priests had but one aim -- namely, to expiate their sins -- and at the tombs of the Apostles and in Our Presence to promise loyalty to the rule of Christ.
4. A still further light of glory was shed upon his kingdom, when after due proof of their heroic virtue, We raised to the honors of the altar six confessors and virgins. It was a great joy, a great consolation, that filled Our heart when in the majestic basilica of St. Peter Our decree was acclaimed by an immense multitude with the hymn of thanksgiving, Tu Rex gloriae Christe. We saw men and nations cut off from God, stirring up strife and discord and hurrying along the road to ruin and death, while the Church of God carries on her work of providing food for the spiritual life of men, nurturing and fostering generation after generation of men and women dedicated to Christ, faithful and subject to him in his earthly kingdom, called by him to eternal bliss in the kingdom of heaven.
5. Moreover, since this jubilee Year marks the sixteenth centenary of the Council of Nicaea, We commanded that event to be celebrated, and We have done so in the Vatican basilica. There is a special reason for this in that the Nicene Synod defined and proposed for Catholic belief the dogma of the Consubstantiality of the Onlybegotten with the Father, and added to the Creed the words "of whose kingdom there shall be no end," thereby affirming the kingly dignity of Christ.
6. Since this Holy Year therefore has provided more than one opportunity to enhance the glory of the kingdom of Christ, we deem it in keeping with our Apostolic office to accede to the desire of many of the Cardinals, Bishops, and faithful, made known to Us both individually and collectively, by closing this Holy Year with the insertion into the Sacred Liturgy of a special feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This matter is so dear to Our heart, Venerable Brethren, that I would wish to address to you a few words concerning it. It will be for you later to explain in a manner suited to the understanding of the faithful what We are about to say concerning the Kingship of Christ, so that the annual feast which We shall decree may be attended with much fruit and produce beneficial results in the future.
7. It has long been a common custom to give to Christ the metaphorical title of "King," because of the high degree of perfection whereby he excels all creatures. So he is said to reign "in the hearts of men," both by reason of the keenness of his intellect and the extent of his knowledge, and also because he is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind. He reigns, too, in the wills of men, for in him the human will was perfectly and entirely obedient to the Holy Will of God, and further by his grace and inspiration he so subjects our free-will as to incite us to the most noble endeavors. He is King of hearts, too, by reason of his "charity which exceedeth all knowledge." And his mercy and kindness[1] which draw all men to him, for never has it been known, nor will it ever be, that man be loved so much and so universally as Jesus Christ. But if we ponder this matter more deeply, we cannot but see that the title and the power of King belongs to Christ as man in the strict and proper sense too. For it is only as man that he may be said to have received from the Father "power and glory and a kingdom,"[2] since the Word of God, as consubstantial with the Father, has all things in common with him, and therefore has necessarily supreme and absolute dominion over all things created.
8. Do we not read throughout the Scriptures that Christ is the King? He it is that shall come out of Jacob to rule,[3] who has been set by the Father as king over Sion, his holy mount, and shall have the Gentiles for his inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for his possession.[4] In the nuptial hymn, where the future King of Israel is hailed as a most rich and powerful monarch, we read: "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the scepter of thy kingdom is a scepter of righteousness."[5] There are many similar passages, but there is one in which Christ is even more clearly indicated. Here it is foretold that his kingdom will have no limits, and will be enriched with justice and peace: "in his days shall justice spring up, and abundance of peace...And he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth."[6]
9. The testimony of the Prophets is even more abundant. That of Isaias is well known: "For a child is born to us and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God the mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace. He shall sit upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom; to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and for ever."[7] With Isaias the other Prophets are in agreement. So Jeremias foretells the "just seed" that shall rest from the house of David -- the Son of David that shall reign as king, "and shall be wise, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth."[8] So, too, Daniel, who announces the kingdom that the God of heaven shall found, "that shall never be destroyed, and shall stand for ever."[9] And again he says: "I beheld, therefore, in the vision of the night, and, lo! one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven. And he came even to the Ancient of days: and they presented him before him. And he gave him power and glory and a kingdom: and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve him. His power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed."[10] The prophecy of Zachary concerning the merciful King "riding upon an ass and upon a colt the foal of an ass" entering Jerusalem as "the just and savior," amid the acclamations of the multitude,[11] was recognized as fulfilled by the holy evangelists themselves.
10. This same doctrine of the Kingship of Christ which we have found in the Old Testament is even more clearly taught and confirmed in the New. The Archangel, announcing to the Virgin that she should bear a Son, says that "the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."[12]
11. Moreover, Christ himself speaks of his own kingly authority: in his last discourse, speaking of the rewards and punishments that will be the eternal lot of the just and the damned; in his reply to the Roman magistrate, who asked him publicly whether he were a king or not; after his resurrection, when giving to his Apostles the mission of teaching and baptizing all nations, he took the opportunity to call himself king,[13] confirming the title publicly,[14] and solemnly proclaimed that all power was given him in heaven and on earth.[15] These words can only be taken to indicate the greatness of his power, the infinite extent of his kingdom. What wonder, then, that he whom St. John calls the "prince of the kings of the earth"[16] appears in the Apostle's vision of the future as he who "hath on his garment and on his thigh written 'King of kings and Lord of lords!'."[17] It is Christ whom the Father "hath appointed heir of all things";[18] "for he must reign until at the end of the world he hath put all his enemies under the feet of God and the Father."[19]
12. It was surely right, then, in view of the common teaching of the sacred books, that the Catholic Church, which is the kingdom of Christ on earth, destined to be spread among all men and all nations, should with every token of veneration salute her Author and Founder in her annual liturgy as King and Lord, and as King of Kings. And, in fact, she used these titles, giving expression with wonderful variety of language to one and the same concept, both in ancient psalmody and in the Sacramentaries. She uses them daily now in the prayers publicly offered to God, and in offering the Immaculate Victim. The perfect harmony of the Eastern liturgies with our own in this continual praise of Christ the King shows once more the truth of the axiom: Legem credendi lex statuit supplicandi. The rule of faith is indicated by the law of our worship.
13. The foundation of this power and dignity of Our Lord is rightly indicated by Cyril of Alexandria. "Christ," he says, "has dominion over all creatures, a dominion not seized by violence nor usurped, but his by essence and by nature."[20] His kingship is founded upon the ineffable hypostatic union. From this it follows not only that Christ is to be adored by angels and men, but that to him as man angels and men are subject, and must recognize his empire; by reason of the hypostatic union Christ has power over all creatures. But a thought that must give us even greater joy and consolation is this that Christ is our King by acquired, as well as by natural right, for he is our Redeemer. Would that they who forget what they have cost their Savior might recall the words: "You were not redeemed with corruptible things, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled."[21] We are no longer our own property, for Christ has purchased us "with a great price";[22] our very bodies are the "members of Christ."[23]
14. Let Us explain briefly the nature and meaning of this lordship of Christ. It consists, We need scarcely say, in a threefold power which is essential to lordship. This is sufficiently clear from the scriptural testimony already adduced concerning the universal dominion of our Redeemer, and moreover it is a dogma of faith that Jesus Christ was given to man, not only as our Redeemer, but also as a law-giver, to whom obedience is due.[24] Not only do the gospels tell us that he made laws, but they present him to us in the act of making them. Those who keep them show their love for their Divine Master, and he promises that they shall remain in his love.[25] He claimed judicial power as received from his Father, when the Jews accused him of breaking the Sabbath by the miraculous cure of a sick man. "For neither doth the Father judge any man; but hath given all judgment to the Son."[26] In this power is included the right of rewarding and punishing all men living, for this right is inseparable from that of judging. Executive power, too, belongs to Christ, for all must obey his commands; none may escape them, nor the sanctions he has imposed.
15. This kingdom is spiritual and is concerned with spiritual things. That this is so the above quotations from Scripture amply prove, and Christ by his own action confirms it. On many occasions, when the Jews and even the Apostles wrongly supposed that the Messiah would restore the liberties and the kingdom of Israel, he repelled and denied such a suggestion. When the populace thronged around him in admiration and would have acclaimed him King, he shrank from the honor and sought safety in flight. Before the Roman magistrate he declared that his kingdom was not of this world. The gospels present this kingdom as one which men prepare to enter by penance, and cannot actually enter except by faith and by baptism, which, though an external rite, signifies and produces an interior regeneration. This kingdom is opposed to none other than to that of Satan and to the power of darkness. It demands of its subjects a spirit of detachment from riches and earthly things, and a spirit of gentleness. They must hunger and thirst after justice, and more than this, they must deny themselves and carry the cross.
16. Christ as our Redeemer purchased the Church at the price of his own blood; as priest he offered himself, and continues to offer himself as a victim for our sins. Is it not evident, then, that his kingly dignity partakes in a manner of both these offices?
17. It would be a grave error, on the other hand, to say that Christ has no authority whatever in civil affairs, since, by virtue of the absolute empire over all creatures committed to him by the Father, all things are in his power. Nevertheless, during his life on earth he refrained from the exercise of such authority, and although he himself disdained to possess or to care for earthly goods, he did not, nor does he today, interfere with those who possess them. Non eripit mortalia qui regna dat caelestia.[27]
18. Thus the empire of our Redeemer embraces all men. To use the words of Our immortal predecessor, Pope Leo XIII: "His empire includes not only Catholic nations, not only baptized persons who, though of right belonging to the Church, have been led astray by error, or have been cut off from her by schism, but also all those who are outside the Christian faith; so that truly the whole of mankind is subject to the power of Jesus Christ."[28] Nor is there any difference in this matter between the individual and the family or the State; for all men, whether collectively or individually, are under the dominion of Christ. In him is the salvation of the individual, in him is the salvation of society. "Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved."[29] He is the author of happiness and true prosperity for every man and for every nation. "For a nation is happy when its citizens are happy. What else is a nation but a number of men living in concord?"[30] If, therefore, the rulers of nations wish to preserve their authority, to promote and increase the prosperity of their countries, they will not neglect the public duty of reverence and obedience to the rule of Christ. What We said at the beginning of Our Pontificate concerning the decline of public authority, and the lack of respect for the same, is equally true at the present day. "With God and Jesus Christ," we said, "excluded from political life, with authority derived not from God but from man, the very basis of that authority has been taken away, because the chief reason of the distinction between ruler and subject has been eliminated. The result is that human society is tottering to its fall, because it has no longer a secure and solid foundation."[31]
19. When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony. Our Lord's regal office invests the human authority of princes and rulers with a religious significance; it ennobles the citizen's duty of obedience. It is for this reason that St. Paul, while bidding wives revere Christ in their husbands, and slaves respect Christ in their masters, warns them to give obedience to them not as men, but as the vicegerents of Christ; for it is not meet that men redeemed by Christ should serve their fellow-men. "You are bought with a price; be not made the bond-slaves of men."[32] If princes and magistrates duly elected are filled with the persuasion that they rule, not by their own right, but by the mandate and in the place of the Divine King, they will exercise their authority piously and wisely, and they will make laws and administer them, having in view the common good and also the human dignity of their subjects. The result will be a stable peace and tranquillity, for there will be no longer any cause of discontent. Men will see in their king or in their rulers men like themselves, perhaps unworthy or open to criticism, but they will not on that account refuse obedience if they see reflected in them the authority of Christ God and Man. Peace and harmony, too, will result; for with the spread and the universal extent of the kingdom of Christ men will become more and more conscious of the link that binds them together, and thus many conflicts will be either prevented entirely or at least their bitterness will be diminished.
20. If the kingdom of Christ, then, receives, as it should, all nations under its way, there seems no reason why we should despair of seeing that peace which the King of Peace came to bring on earth -- he who came to reconcile all things, who came not to be ministered unto but to minister, who, though Lord of all, gave himself to us as a model of humility, and with his principal law united the precept of charity; who said also: "My yoke is sweet and my burden light." Oh, what happiness would be Ours if all men, individuals, families, and nations, would but let themselves be governed by Christ! "Then at length," to use the words addressed by our predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, twenty-five years ago to the bishops of the Universal Church, "then at length will many evils be cured; then will the law regain its former authority; peace with all its blessings be restored. Men will sheathe their swords and lay down their arms when all freely acknowledge and obey the authority of Christ, and every tongue confesses that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father."[33]
21. That these blessings may be abundant and lasting in Christian society, it is necessary that the kingship of our Savior should be as widely as possible recognized and understood, and to the end nothing would serve better than the institution of a special feast in honor of the Kingship of Christ. For people are instructed in the truths of faith, and brought to appreciate the inner joys of religion far more effectually by the annual celebration of our sacred mysteries than by any official pronouncement of the teaching of the Church. Such pronouncements usually reach only a few and the more learned among the faithful; feasts reach them all; the former speak but once, the latter speak every year -- in fact, forever. The church's teaching affects the mind primarily; her feasts affect both mind and heart, and have a salutary effect upon the whole of man's nature. Man is composed of body and soul, and he needs these external festivities so that the sacred rites, in all their beauty and variety, may stimulate him to drink more deeply of the fountain of God's teaching, that he may make it a part of himself, and use it with profit for his spiritual life.
22. History, in fact, tells us that in the course of ages these festivals have been instituted one after another according as the needs or the advantage of the people of Christ seemed to demand: as when they needed strength to face a common danger, when they were attacked by insidious heresies, when they needed to be urged to the pious consideration of some mystery of faith or of some divine blessing. Thus in the earliest days of the Christian era, when the people of Christ were suffering cruel persecution, the cult of the martyrs was begun in order, says St. Augustine, "that the feasts of the martyrs might incite men to martyrdom."[34] The liturgical honors paid to confessors, virgins and widows produced wonderful results in an increased zest for virtue, necessary even in times of peace. But more fruitful still were the feasts instituted in honor of the Blessed Virgin. As a result of these men grew not only in their devotion to the Mother of God as an ever-present advocate, but also in their love of her as a mother bequeathed to them by their Redeemer. Not least among the blessings which have resulted from the public and legitimate honor paid to the Blessed Virgin and the saints is the perfect and perpetual immunity of the Church from error and heresy. We may well admire in this the admirable wisdom of the Providence of God, who, ever bringing good out of evil, has from time to time suffered the faith and piety of men to grow weak, and allowed Catholic truth to be attacked by false doctrines, but always with the result that truth has afterwards shone out with greater splendor, and that men's faith, aroused from its lethargy, has shown itself more vigorous than before.
23. The festivals that have been introduced into the liturgy in more recent years have had a similar origin, and have been attended with similar results. When reverence and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament had grown cold, the feast of Corpus Christi was instituted, so that by means of solemn processions and prayer of eight days' duration, men might be brought once more to render public homage to Christ. So, too, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was instituted at a time when men were oppressed by the sad and gloomy severity of Jansenism, which had made their hearts grow cold, and shut them out from the love of God and the hope of salvation.
24. If We ordain that the whole Catholic world shall revere Christ as King, We shall minister to the need of the present day, and at the same time provide an excellent remedy for the plague which now infects society. We refer to the plague of anti-clericalism, its errors and impious activities. This evil spirit, as you are well aware, Venerable Brethren, has not come into being in one day; it has long lurked beneath the surface. The empire of Christ over all nations was rejected. The right which the Church has from Christ himself, to teach mankind, to make laws, to govern peoples in all that pertains to their eternal salvation, that right was denied. Then gradually the religion of Christ came to be likened to false religions and to be placed ignominiously on the same level with them. It was then put under the power of the state and tolerated more or less at the whim of princes and rulers. Some men went even further, and wished to set up in the place of God's religion a natural religion consisting in some instinctive affection of the heart. There were even some nations who thought they could dispense with God, and that their religion should consist in impiety and the neglect of God. The rebellion of individuals and states against the authority of Christ has produced deplorable consequences. We lamented these in the Encyclical Ubi arcano; we lament them today: the seeds of discord sown far and wide; those bitter enmities and rivalries between nations, which still hinder so much the cause of peace; that insatiable greed which is so often hidden under a pretense of public spirit and patriotism, and gives rise to so many private quarrels; a blind and immoderate selfishness, making men seek nothing but their own comfort and advantage, and measure everything by these; no peace in the home, because men have forgotten or neglect their duty; the unity and stability of the family undermined; society in a word, shaken to its foundations and on the way to ruin. We firmly hope, however, that the feast of the Kingship of Christ, which in future will be yearly observed, may hasten the return of society to our loving Savior. It would be the duty of Catholics to do all they can to bring about this happy result. Many of these, however, have neither the station in society nor the authority which should belong to those who bear the torch of truth. This state of things may perhaps be attributed to a certain slowness and timidity in good people, who are reluctant to engage in conflict or oppose but a weak resistance; thus the enemies of the Church become bolder in their attacks. But if the faithful were generally to understand that it behooves them ever to fight courageously under the banner of Christ their King, then, fired with apostolic zeal, they would strive to win over to their Lord those hearts that are bitter and estranged from him, and would valiantly defend his rights.
25. Moreover, the annual and universal celebration of the feast of the Kingship of Christ will draw attention to the evils which anticlericalism has brought upon society in drawing men away from Christ, and will also do much to remedy them. While nations insult the beloved name of our Redeemer by suppressing all mention of it in their conferences and parliaments, we must all the more loudly proclaim his kingly dignity and power, all the more universally affirm his rights.
26. The way has been happily and providentially prepared for the celebration of this feast ever since the end of the last century. It is well known that this cult has been the subject of learned disquisitions in many books published in every part of the world, written in many different languages. The kingship and empire of Christ have been recognized in the pious custom, practiced by many families, of dedicating themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus; not only families have performed this act of dedication, but nations, too, and kingdoms. In fact, the whole of the human race was at the instance of Pope Leo XIII, in the Holy Year 1900, consecrated to the Divine Heart. It should be remarked also that much has been done for the recognition of Christ's authority over society by the frequent Eucharistic Congresses which are held in our age. These give an opportunity to the people of each diocese, district or nation, and to the whole world of coming together to venerate and adore Christ the King hidden under the Sacramental species. Thus by sermons preached at meetings and in churches, by public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed and by solemn processions, men unite in paying homage to Christ, whom God has given them for their King. It is by a divine inspiration that the people of Christ bring forth Jesus from his silent hiding-place in the church, and carry him in triumph through the streets of the city, so that he whom men refused to receive when he came unto his own, may now receive in full his kingly rights.
27. For the fulfillment of the plan of which We have spoken, the Holy Year, which is now speeding to its close, offers the best possible opportunity. For during this year the God of mercy has raised the minds and hearts of the faithful to the consideration of heavenly blessings which are above all understanding, has either restored them once more to his grace, or inciting them anew to strive for higher gifts, has set their feet more firmly in the path of righteousness. Whether, therefore, We consider the many prayers that have been addressed to Us, or look to the events of the Jubilee Year, just past, We have every reason to think that the desired moment has at length arrived for enjoining that Christ be venerated by a special feast as King of all mankind. In this year, as We said at the beginning of this Letter, the Divine King, truly wonderful in all his works, has been gloriously magnified, for another company of his soldiers has been added to the list of saints. In this year men have looked upon strange things and strange labors, from which they have understood and admired the victories won by missionaries in the work of spreading his kingdom. In this year, by solemnly celebrating the centenary of the Council of Nicaea. We have commemorated the definition of the divinity of the word Incarnate, the foundation of Christ's empire over all men.
28. Therefore by Our Apostolic Authority We institute the Feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ to be observed yearly throughout the whole world on the last Sunday of the month of October -- the Sunday, that is, which immediately precedes the Feast of All Saints. We further ordain that the dedication of mankind to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which Our predecessor of saintly memory, Pope Pius X, commanded to be renewed yearly, be made annually on that day. This year, however, We desire that it be observed on the thirty-first day of the month on which day We Ourselves shall celebrate pontifically in honor of the kingship of Christ, and shall command that the same dedication be performed in Our presence. It seems to Us that We cannot in a more fitting manner close this Holy Year, nor better signify Our gratitude and that of the whole of the Catholic world to Christ the immortal King of ages, for the blessings showered upon Us, upon the Church, and upon the Catholic world during this holy period.
29. It is not necessary, Venerable Brethren, that We should explain to you at any length why We have decreed that this feast of the Kingship of Christ should be observed in addition to those other feasts in which his kingly dignity is already signified and celebrated. It will suffice to remark that although in all the feasts of our Lord the material object of worship is Christ, nevertheless their formal object is something quite distinct from his royal title and dignity. We have commanded its observance on a Sunday in order that not only the clergy may perform their duty by saying Mass and reciting the Office, but that the laity too, free from their daily tasks, may in a spirit of holy joy give ample testimony of their obedience and subjection to Christ. The last Sunday of October seemed the most convenient of all for this purpose, because it is at the end of the liturgical year, and thus the feast of the Kingship of Christ sets the crowning glory upon the mysteries of the life of Christ already commemorated during the year, and, before celebrating the triumph of all the Saints, we proclaim and extol the glory of him who triumphs in all the Saints and in all the Elect. Make it your duty and your task, Venerable Brethren, to see that sermons are preached to the people in every parish to teach them the meaning and the importance of this feast, that they may so order their lives as to be worthy of faithful and obedient subjects of the Divine King.
30. We would now, Venerable Brethren, in closing this letter, briefly enumerate the blessings which We hope and pray may accrue to the Church, to society, and to each one of the faithful, as a result of the public veneration of the Kingship of Christ.
31. When we pay honor to the princely dignity of Christ, men will doubtless be reminded that the Church, founded by Christ as a perfect society, has a natural and inalienable right to perfect freedom and immunity from the power of the state; and that in fulfilling the task committed to her by God of teaching, ruling, and guiding to eternal bliss those who belong to the kingdom of Christ, she cannot be subject to any external power. The State is bound to extend similar freedom to the orders and communities of religious of either sex, who give most valuable help to the Bishops of the Church by laboring for the extension and the establishment of the kingdom of Christ. By their sacred vows they fight against the threefold concupiscence of the world; by making profession of a more perfect life they render the holiness which her divine Founder willed should be a mark and characteristic of his Church more striking and more conspicuous in the eyes of all.
32. Nations will be reminded by the annual celebration of this feast that not only private individuals but also rulers and princes are bound to give public honor and obedience to Christ. It will call to their minds the thought of the last judgment, wherein Christ, who has been cast out of public life, despised, neglected and ignored, will most severely avenge these insults; for his kingly dignity demands that the State should take account of the commandments of God and of Christian principles, both in making laws and in administering justice, and also in providing for the young a sound moral education.
33. The faithful, moreover, by meditating upon these truths, will gain much strength and courage, enabling them to form their lives after the true Christian ideal. If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; if this power embraces all men, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God.[35] If all these truths are presented to the faithful for their consideration, they will prove a powerful incentive to perfection. It is Our fervent desire, Venerable Brethren, that those who are without the fold may seek after and accept the sweet yoke of Christ, and that we, who by the mercy of God are of the household of the faith, may bear that yoke, not as a burden but with joy, with love, with devotion; that having lived our lives in accordance with the laws of God's kingdom, we may receive full measure of good fruit, and counted by Christ good and faithful servants, we may be rendered partakers of eternal bliss and glory with him in his heavenly kingdom.
34. Let this letter, Venerable Brethren, be a token to you of Our fatherly love as the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ draws near; and receive the Apostolic Benediction as a pledge of divine blessings, which with loving heart, We impart to you, Venerable Brethren, to your clergy, and to your people.
Given at St. Peter's Rome, on the eleventh day of the month of December, in the Holy Year 1925, the fourth of Our Pontificate.
REFERENCES:
1. Eph. iii, 9.
2. Dan. vii, 13-14.
3. Num. xxiv, 19.
4. Ps. ii.
5. Ps. xliv.
6. Ps. Ixxi.
7. Isa. ix, 6-7.
8. Jer. xxiii, 5.
9. Dan. ii, 44.
10. Dan. vii, 13-14.
11. Zach. ix, 9.
12. Luc. i, 32-33.
13. Matt. xxv, 31-40.
14. Joan. xviii, 37.
15. Matt. xxviii, 18.
16. Apoc. 1, 5.
17. Apoc. xix, 16.
18. Heb. 1, 2.
19. Cf. 1 Cor. xv, 25.
20. In huc. x.
21. I Pet. i, 18-19.
22. 1 Cor. vi, 20.
23. I Cor. vi, 15.
24. Conc. Trid. Sess. Vl, can. 21.
25. Joan. xiv, 15; xv, 10.
26. Joan. v, 22.
27. Hymn for the Epiphany.
28. Enc. Annum Sacrum, May 25, 1899.
29. Acts iv, 12.
30. S. Aug. Ep. ad Macedonium, c. iii.
31. Enc. Ubi Arcano.
32. I Cor.vii,23.
33. Enc. Annum Sanctum, May 25, 1899.
34. Sermo 47 de Sanctis.
35. Rom. vi, 13.
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| Pope Pius IX: Quanta Cura |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-09-2020, 06:39 PM - Forum: Encyclicals
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Quanta Cura
Condemning Current Errors
Encyclical of Pope Pius IX promulgated on December 8, 1864.
To Our Venerable Brethren, all Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops having favor and Communion of the Holy See.
Venerable Brethren, Health and Apostolic Benediction.
With how great care and pastoral vigilance the Roman Pontiffs, our predecessors, fulfilling the duty and office committed to them by the Lord Christ Himself in the person of most Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, of feeding the lambs and the sheep, have never ceased sedulously to nourish the Lord's whole flock with words of faith and with salutary doctrine, and to guard it from poisoned pastures, is thoroughly known to all, and especially to you, Venerable Brethren. And truly the same, Our Predecessors, asserters of justice, being especially anxious for the salvation of souls, had nothing ever more at heart than by their most wise Letters and Constitutions to unveil and condemn all those heresies and errors which, being adverse to our Divine Faith, to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, to purity of morals, and to the eternal salvation of men, have frequently excited violent tempests, and have miserably afflicted both Church and State. For which cause the same Our Predecessors, have, with Apostolic fortitude, constantly resisted the nefarious enterprises of wicked men, who, like raging waves of the sea foaming out their own confusion, and promising liberty whereas they are the slaves of corruption, have striven by their deceptive opinions and most pernicious writings to raze the foundations of the Catholic religion and of civil society, to remove from among men all virtue and justice, to deprave persons, and especially inexperienced youth, to lead it into the snares of error, and at length to tear it from the bosom of the Catholic Church.
2. But now, as is well known to you, Venerable Brethren, already, scarcely had we been elevated to this Chair of Peter (by the hidden counsel of Divine Providence, certainly by no merit of our own), when, seeing with the greatest grief of Our soul a truly awful storm excited by so many evil opinions, and (seeing also) the most grievous calamities never sufficiently to be deplored which overspread the Christian people from so many errors, according to the duty of Our Apostolic Ministry, and following the illustrious example of Our Predecessors, We raised Our voice, and in many published Encyclical Letters and Allocutions delivered in Consistory, and other Apostolic Letters, we condemned the chief errors of this most unhappy age, and we excited your admirable episcopal vigilance, and we again and again admonished and exhorted all sons of the Catholic Church, to us most dear, that they should altogether abhor and flee from the contagion of so dire a pestilence. And especially in our first Encyclical Letter written to you on Nov. 9, 1846, and in two Allocutions delivered by us in Consistory, the one on Dec. 9, 1854, and the other on June 9, 1862, we condemned the monstrous portents of opinion which prevail especially in this age, bringing with them the greatest loss of souls and detriment of civil society itself; which are grievously opposed also, not only to the Catholic Church and her salutary doctrine and venerable rights, but also to the eternal natural law engraven by God in all men's hearts, and to right reason; and from which almost all other errors have their origin.
3. But, although we have not omitted often to proscribe and reprobate the chief errors of this kind, yet the cause of the Catholic Church, and the salvation of souls entrusted to us by God, and the welfare of human society itself, altogether demand that we again stir up your pastoral solicitude to exterminate other evil opinions, which spring forth from the said errors as from a fountain. Which false and perverse opinions are on that ground the more to be detested, because they chiefly tend to this, that that salutary influence be impeded and (even) removed, which the Catholic Church, according to the institution and command of her Divine Author, should freely exercise even to the end of the world -- not only over private individuals, but over nations, peoples, and their sovereign princes; and (tend also) to take away that mutual fellowship and concord of counsels between Church and State which has ever proved itself propitious and salutary, both for religious and civil interests.1
For you well know, venerable brethren, that at this time men are found not a few who, applying to civil society the impious and absurd principle of "naturalism," as they call it, dare to teach that "the best constitution of public society and (also) civil progress altogether require that human society be conducted and governed without regard being had to religion any more than if it did not exist; or, at least, without any distinction being made between the true religion and false ones." And, against the doctrine of Scripture, of the Church, and of the Holy Fathers, they do not hesitate to assert that "that is the best condition of civil society, in which no duty is recognized, as attached to the civil power, of restraining by enacted penalties, offenders against the Catholic religion, except so far as public peace may require." From which totally false idea of social government they do not fear to foster that erroneous opinion, most fatal in its effects on the Catholic Church and the salvation of souls, called by Our Predecessor, Gregory XVI, an "insanity,"2 viz., that "liberty of conscience and worship is each man's personal right, which ought to be legally proclaimed and asserted in every rightly constituted society; and that a right resides in the citizens to an absolute liberty, which should be restrained by no authority whether ecclesiastical or civil, whereby they may be able openly and publicly to manifest and declare any of their ideas whatever, either by word of mouth, by the press, or in any other way." But, while they rashly affirm this, they do not think and consider that they are preaching "liberty of perdition;"3 and that "if human arguments are always allowed free room for discussion, there will never be wanting men who will dare to resist truth, and to trust in the flowing speech of human wisdom; whereas we know, from the very teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, how carefully Christian faith and wisdom should avoid this most injurious babbling."4
4. And, since where religion has been removed from civil society, and the doctrine and authority of divine revelation repudiated, the genuine notion itself of justice and human right is darkened and lost, and the place of true justice and legitimate right is supplied by material force, thence it appears why it is that some, utterly neglecting and disregarding the surest principles of sound reason, dare to proclaim that "the people's will, manifested by what is called public opinion or in some other way, constitutes a supreme law, free from all divine and human control; and that in the political order accomplished facts, from the very circumstance that they are accomplished, have the force of right." But who, does not see and clearly perceive that human society, when set loose from the bonds of religion and true justice, can have, in truth, no other end than the purpose of obtaining and amassing wealth, and that (society under such circumstances) follows no other law in its actions, except the unchastened desire of ministering to its own pleasure and interests? For this reason, men of the kind pursue with bitter hatred the Religious Orders, although these have deserved extremely well of Christendom, civilization and literature, and cry out that the same have no legitimate reason for being permitted to exist; and thus (these evil men) applaud the calumnies of heretics. For, as Pius VI, Our Predecessor, taught most wisely, "the abolition of regulars is injurious to that state in which the Evangelical counsels are openly professed; it is injurious to a method of life praised in the Church as agreeable to Apostolic doctrine; it is injurious to the illustrious founders, themselves, whom we venerate on our altars, who did not establish these societies but by God's inspiration."5 And (these wretches) also impiously declare that permission should be refused to citizens and to the Church, "whereby they may openly give alms for the sake of Christian charity"; and that the law should be abrogated "whereby on certain fixed days servile works are prohibited because of God's worship;" and on the most deceptive pretext that the said permission and law are opposed to the principles of the best public economy. Moreover, not content with removing religion from public society, they wish to banish it also from private families. For, teaching and professing the most fatal error of "Communism and Socialism," they assert that "domestic society or the family derives the whole principle of its existence from the civil law alone; and, consequently, that on civil law alone depend all rights of parents over their children, and especially that of providing for education." By which impious opinions and machinations these most deceitful men chiefly aim at this result, viz., that the salutary teaching and influence of the Catholic Church may be entirely banished from the instruction and education of youth, and that the tender and flexible minds of young men may be infected and depraved by every most pernicious error and vice. For all who have endeavored to throw into confusion things both sacred and secular, and to subvert the right order of society, and to abolish all rights, human and divine, have always (as we above hinted) devoted all their nefarious schemes, devices and efforts, to deceiving and depraving incautious youth and have placed all their hope in its corruption. For which reason they never cease by every wicked method to assail the clergy, both secular and regular, from whom (as the surest monuments of history conspicuously attest), so many great advantages have abundantly flowed to Christianity, civilization and literature, and to proclaim that "the clergy, as being hostile to the true and beneficial advance of science and civilization, should be removed from the whole charge and duty of instructing and educating youth."
5. Others meanwhile, reviving the wicked and so often condemned inventions of innovators, dare with signal impudence to subject to the will of the civil authority the supreme authority of the Church and of this Apostolic See given to her by Christ Himself, and to deny all those rights of the same Church and See which concern matters of the external order. For they are not ashamed of affirming "that the Church's laws do not bind in conscience unless when they are promulgated by the civil power; that acts and decrees of the Roman Pontiffs, referring to religion and the Church, need the civil power's sanction and approbation, or at least its consent; that the Apostolic Constitutions,6 whereby secret societies are condemned (whether an oath of secrecy be or be not required in such societies), and whereby their frequenters and favourers are smitten with anathema -- have no force in those regions of the world wherein associations of the kind are tolerated by the civil government; that the excommunication pronounced by the Council of Trent and by Roman Pontiffs against those who assail and usurp the Church's rights and possessions, rests on a confusion between the spiritual and temporal orders, and (is directed) to the pursuit of a purely secular good; that the Church can decree nothing which binds the conscience of the faithful in regard to their use of temporal things; that the Church has no right of restraining by temporal punishments those who violate her laws; that it is conformable to the principles of sacred theology and public law to assert and claim for the civil government a right of property in those goods which are possessed by the Church, by the Religious Orders, and by other pious establishments." Nor do they blush openly and publicly to profess the maxim and principle of heretics from which arise so many perverse opinions and errors. For they repeat that the "ecclesiastical power is not by divine right distinct from, and independent of, the civil power, and that such distinction and independence cannot be preserved without the civil power's essential rights being assailed and usurped by the Church." Nor can we pass over in silence the audacity of those who, not enduring sound doctrine, contend that "without sin and without any sacrifice of the Catholic profession assent and obedience may be refused to those judgments and decrees of the Apostolic See, whose object is declared to concern the Church's general good and her rights and discipline, so only it does not touch the dogmata of faith and morals." But no one can be found not clearly and distinctly to see and understand how grievously this is opposed to the Catholic dogma of the full power given from God by Christ our Lord Himself to the Roman Pontiff of feeding, ruling and guiding the Universal Church.
6. Amidst, therefore, such great perversity of depraved opinions, we, well remembering our Apostolic Office, and very greatly solicitous for our most holy Religion, for sound doctrine and the salvation of souls which is intrusted to us by God, and (solicitous also) for the welfare of human society itself, have thought it right again to raise up our Apostolic voice. Therefore, by our Apostolic authority, we reprobate, proscribe, and condemn all the singular and evil opinions and doctrines severally mentioned in this letter, and will and command that they be thoroughly held by all children of the Catholic Church as reprobated, proscribed and condemned.
7. And besides these things, you know very well, Venerable Brethren, that in these times the haters of truth and justice and most bitter enemies of our religion, deceiving the people and maliciously lying, disseminate sundry and other impious doctrines by means of pestilential books, pamphlets and newspapers dispersed over the whole world. Nor are you ignorant also, that in this our age some men are found who, moved and excited by the spirit of Satan, have reached to that degree of impiety as not to shrink from denying our Ruler and Lord Jesus Christ, and from impugning His Divinity with wicked pertinacity. Here, however, we cannot but extol you, venerable brethren, with great and deserved praise, for not having failed to raise with all zeal your episcopal voice against impiety so great.
8. Therefore, in this our letter, we again most lovingly address you, who, having been called unto a part of our solicitude, are to us, among our grievous distresses, the greatest solace, joy and consolation, because of the admirable religion and piety wherein you excel, and because of that marvellous love, fidelity, and dutifulness, whereby bound as you are to us. and to this Apostolic See in most harmonious affection, you strive strenuously and sedulously to fulfill your most weighty episcopal ministry. For from your signal pastoral zeal we expect that, taking up the sword of the spirit which is the word of God, and strengthened by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, you will, with redoubled care, each day more anxiously provide that the faithful entrusted to your charge "abstain from noxious verbiage, which Jesus Christ does not cultivate because it is not His Father's plantation."7 Never cease also to inculcate on the said faithful that all true felicity flows abundantly upon man from our august religion and its doctrine and practice; and that happy is the people whose God is their Lord.8 Teach that "kingdoms rest on the foundation of the Catholic Faith;9 and that nothing is so deadly, so hastening to a fall, so exposed to all danger, (as that which exists) if, believing this alone to be sufficient for us that we receive free will at our birth, we seek nothing further from the Lord; that is, if forgetting our Creator we abjure his power that we may display our freedom."10 And again do not fail to teach "that the royal power was given not only for the governance of the world, but most of all for the protection of the Church;"11 and that there is nothing which can be of greater advantage and glory to Princes and Kings than if, as another most wise and courageous Predecessor of ours, St. Felix, instructed the Emperor Zeno, they "permit the Catholic Church to practise her laws, and allow no one to oppose her liberty. For it is certain that this mode of conduct is beneficial to their interests, viz., that where there is question concerning the causes of God, they study, according to His appointment, to subject the royal will to Christ's Priests, not to raise it above theirs."12
9. But if always, venerable brethren, now most of all amidst such great calamities both of the Church and of civil society, amidst so great a conspiracy against Catholic interests and this Apostolic See, and so great a mass of errors, it is altogether necessary to approach with confidence the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace in timely aid. Wherefore, we have thought it well to excite the piety of all the faithful in order that, together with us and you, they may unceasingly pray and beseech the most merciful Father of light and pity with most fervent and humble prayers, and in the fullness of faith flee always to Our Lord Jesus Christ, who redeemed us to God in his blood, and earnestly and constantly supplicate His most sweet Heart, the victim of most burning love toward us, that He would draw all things to Himself by the bonds of His love, and that all men inflamed by His most holy love may walk worthily according to His heart, pleasing God in all things, bearing fruit in every good work. But since without doubt men's prayers are more pleasing to God if they reach Him from minds free from all stain, therefore we have determined to open to Christ's faithful, with Apostolic liberality, the Church's heavenly treasures committed to our charge, in order that the said faithful, being more earnestly enkindled to true piety, and cleansed through the sacrament of Penance from the defilement of their sins, may with greater confidence pour forth their prayers to God, and obtain His mercy and grace.
10. By these Letters, therefore, in virtue of our Apostolic authority, we concede to all and singular the faithful of the Catholic world, a Plenary Indulgence in the form of Jubilee, during the space of one month only for the whole coming year 1865, and not beyond; to be fixed by you, venerable brethren, and other legitimate Ordinaries of places, in the very same manner and form in which we granted it at the beginning of our supreme Pontificate by our Apostolic Letters in the form of a Brief, dated November 20, 1846, and addressed to all your episcopal Order, beginning, "Arcano Divinae Providentiae consilio," and with all the same faculties which were given by us in those Letters. We will, however, that all things be observed which were prescribed in the aforesaid Letters, and those things be excepted which we there so declared. And we grant this, notwithstanding anything whatever to the contrary, even things which are worthy of individual mention and derogation. In order, however, that all doubt and difficulty be removed, we have commanded a copy of said Letters be sent you.
11. "Let us implore," Venerable Brethren, "God's mercy from our inmost heart and with our whole mind; because He has Himself added, 'I will not remove my mercy from them.' Let us ask and we shall receive; and if there be delay and slowness in our receiving because we have gravely offended, let us knock, because to him that knocketh it shall be opened, if only the door be knocked by our prayers, groans and tears, in which we must persist and persevere, and if the prayer be unanimous . . . let each man pray to God, not for himself alone, but for all his brethren, as the Lord hath taught us to pray."13 But in order that God may the more readily assent to the prayers and desires of ourselves, of you and of all the faithful, let us with all confidence employ as or advocate with Him the Immaculate and most holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God, who has slain all heresies throughout the world, and who, the most loving Mother of us all, "is all sweet . . . and full of mercy . . . shows herself to all as easily entreated; shows herself to all as most merciful; pities the necessities of all with a most large affection;"14 and standing as a Queen at the right hand of her only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety, can obtain from Him whatever she will. Let us also seek the suffrages of the Most Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and of Paul, his Fellow-Apostle, and of all the Saints in Heaven, who having now become God's friends, have arrived at the heavenly kingdom, and being crowned bear their palms, and being secure of their own immortality are anxious for our salvation.
12. Lastly, imploring from our great heart for You from God the abundance of all heavenly gifts, we most lovingly impart the Apostolic Benediction from our inmost heart, a pledge of our signal love towards you, to yourselves, venerable brethren, and to all the clerics and lay faithful committed to your care.
Given at Rome, from St. Peter's, the 8th day of December, in the year 1864, the tenth from the Dogmatic Definition of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God.
In the nineteenth year of Our Pontificate.
1. Gregory XVI, encyclical epistle "Mirari vos," 15 August 1832.
2. Ibid.
3. St. Augustine, epistle 105 (166).
4. St. Leo, epistle 14 (133), sect. 2, edit. Ball.
5. Epistle to Cardinal De la Rochefoucault, 10 March 1791.
6. Clement XII, "In eminenti;" Benedict XIV, "Providas Romanorum;" Pius VII, "Ecclesiam;" Leo XII, "
Quo graviora."
7. St. Ignatius M. to the Philadelphians, 3.
8. Ps 143.
9. St. Celestine, epistle 22 to Synod. Ephes. apud Const., p. 1200.
10. St. Innocent. 1, epistle 29 ad Episc. conc. Carthag. apud Coust., p. 891.
11. St. Leo, epistle 156 (125).
12. Pius VII, encyclical epistle "Diu satis," 15 May 1800.
13. St. Cyprian, epist. 11.
14. St. Bernard, Serm. "de duodecim praerogativis B. M. V. ex verbis Apocalyp."
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| Pope Pius X: Lambentabili Sane - Condemning the Errors of the Modernists |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-09-2020, 06:27 PM - Forum: Encyclicals
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LAMENTABILI SANE
SYLLABUS CONDEMNING THE ERRORS OF THE MODERNISTS
Pius X - July 3, 1907
With truly lamentable results, our age, casting aside all restraint in its search for the ultimate causes of things, frequently pursues novelties so ardently that it rejects the legacy of the human race. Thus it falls into very serious errors, which are even more serious when they concern sacred authority, the interpretation of Sacred Scripture, and the principal mysteries of Faith. The fact that many Catholic writers also go beyond the limits determined by the Fathers and the Church herself is extremely regrettable. In the name of higher knowledge and historical research (they say), they are looking for that progress of dogmas which is, in reality, nothing but the corruption of dogmas.
These errors are being daily spread among the faithful. Lest they captivate the faithful's minds and corrupt the purity of their faith, His Holiness, Pius X, by Divine Providence, Pope, has decided that the chief errors should be noted and condemned by the Office of this Holy Roman and Universal Inquisition.
Therefore, after a very diligent investigation and consultation with the Reverend Consultors, the Most Eminent and Reverend Lord Cardinals, the General Inquisitors in matters of faith and morals have judged the following propositions to be condemned and proscribed. In fact, by this general decree, they are condemned and proscribed.
1. The ecclesiastical law which prescribes that books concerning the Divine Scriptures are subject to previous examination does not apply to critical scholars and students of scientific exegesis of the Old and New Testament.
2. The Church's interpretation of the Sacred Books is by no means to be rejected; nevertheless, it is subject to the more accurate judgment and correction of the exegetes.
3. From the ecclesiastical judgments and censures passed against free and more scientific exegesis, one can conclude that the Faith the Church proposes contradicts history and that Catholic teaching cannot really be reconciled with the true origins of the Christian religion.
4. Even by dogmatic definitions the Church's magisterium cannot determine the genuine sense of the Sacred Scriptures.
5. Since the deposit of Faith contains only revealed truths, the Church has no right to pass judgment on the assertions of the human sciences.
6. The "Church learning" and the "Church teaching" collaborate in such a way in defining truths that it only remains for the "Church teaching" to sanction the opinions of the "Church learning."
7. In proscribing errors, the Church cannot demand any internal assent from the faithful by which the judgments she issues are to be embraced.
8. They are free from all blame who treat lightly the condemnations passed by the Sacred Congregation of the Index or by the Roman Congregations.
9. They display excessive simplicity or ignorance who believe that God is really the author of the Sacred Scriptures.
10. The inspiration of the books of the Old Testament consists in this: The Israelite writers handed down religious doctrines under a peculiar aspect which was either little or not at all known to the Gentiles.
11. Divine inspiration does not extend to all of Sacred Scriptures so that it renders its parts, each and every one, free from every error.
12. If he wishes to apply himself usefully to Biblical studies, the exegete must first put aside all preconceived opinions about the supernatural origin of Sacred Scripture and interpret it the same as any other merely human document.
13. The Evangelists themselves, as well as the Christians of the second and third generation, artificially arranged the evangelical parables. In such a way they explained the scanty fruit of the preaching of Christ among the Jews.
14. In many narrations the Evangelists recorded, not so much things that are true, as things which, even though false, they judged to be more profitable for their readers.
15. Until the time the canon was defined and constituted, the Gospels were increased by additions and corrections. Therefore there remained in them only a faint and uncertain trace of the doctrine of Christ.
16. The narrations of John are not properly history, but a mystical contemplation of the Gospel. The discourses contained in his Gospel are theological meditations, lacking historical truth concerning the mystery of salvation.
17. The fourth Gospel exaggerated miracles not only in order that the extraordinary might stand out but also in order that it might become more suitable for showing forth the work and glory of the Word lncarnate.
18. John claims for himself the quality of witness concerning Christ. In reality, however, he is only a distinguished witness of the Christian life, or of the life of Christ in the Church at the close of the first century.
19. Heterodox exegetes have expressed the true sense of the Scriptures more faithfully than Catholic exegetes.
20. Revelation could be nothing else than the consciousness man acquired of his revelation to God.
21. Revelation, constituting the object of the Catholic faith, was not completed with the Apostles.
22. The dogmas the Church holds out as revealed are not truths which have fallen from heaven. They are an interpretation of religious facts which the human mind has acquired by laborious effort.
23. Opposition may, and actually does, exist between the facts narrated in Sacred Scripture and the Church's dogmas which rest on them. Thus the critic may reject as false facts the Church holds as most certain.
24. The exegete who constructs premises from which it follows that dogmas are historically false or doubtful is not to be reproved as long as he does not directly deny the dogmas themselves .
25. The assent of faith ultimately rests on a mass of probabilities .
26. The dogmas of the Faith are to be held only according to their practical sense; that is to say, as preceptive norms of conduct and not as norms of believing.
27. The divinity of Jesus Christ is not proved from the Gospels. It is a dogma which the Christian conscience has derived from the notion of the Messias.
28. While He was exercising His ministry, Jesus did not speak with the object of teaching He was the Messias, nor did His miracles tend to prove it.
29. It is permissible to grant that the Christ of history is far inferior to the Christ Who is the object of faith.
30. In all the evangelical texts the name "Son of God'' is equivalent only to that of "Messias." It does not in the least way signify that Christ is the true and natural Son of God.
31. The doctrine concerning Christ taught by Paul, John, and the Councils of Nicea, Ephesus and Chalcedon is not that which Jesus taught but that which the Christian conscience conceived concerning Jesus.
32. It is impossible to reconcile the natural sense of the Gospel texts with the sense taught by our theologians concerning the conscience and the infallible knowledge of Jesus Christ.
33. Everyone who is not led by preconceived opinions can readily see that either Jesus professed an error concerning the immediate Messianic coming or the greater part of His doctrine as contained in the Gospels is destitute of authenticity.
34. The critics can ascribe to Christ a knowledge without limits only on a hypothesis which cannot be historically conceived and which is repugnant to the moral sense. That hypothesis is that Christ as man possessed the knowledge of God and yet was unwilling to communicate the knowledge of a great many things to His disciples and posterity.
35. Christ did not always possess the consciousness of His Messianic dignity.
36. The Resurrection of the Savior is not properly a fact of the historical order. It is a fact of merely the supernatural order (neither demonstrated nor demonstrable) which the Christian conscience gradually derived from other facts.
37. In the beginning, faith in the Resurrection of Christ was not so much in the fact itself of the Resurrection as in the immortal life of Christ with God.
38. The doctrine of the expiatory death of Christ is Pauline and not evangelical.
39. The opinions concerning the origin of the Sacraments which the Fathers of Trent held and which certainly influenced their dogmatic canons are very different from those which now rightly exist among historians who examine Christianity.
40. The Sacraments have their origin in the fact that the Apostles and their successors, swayed and moved by circumstances and events, interpreted some idea and intention of Christ.
41. The Sacraments are intended merely to recall to man's mind the ever-beneficent presence of the Creator.
42. The Christian community imposed the necessity of Baptism, adopted it as a necessary rite, and added to it the obligation of the Christian profession.
43. The practice of administering Baptism to infants was a disciplinary evolution, which became one of the causes why the Sacrament was divided into two, namely, Baptism and Penance.
44. There is nothing to prove that the rite of the Sacrament of Confirmation was employed by the Apostles. The formal distinction of the two Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation does not pertain to the history of primitive Christianity.
45. Not everything which Paul narrates concerning the institution of the Eucharist (I Cor. 11:23-25) is to be taken historically.
46. In the primitive Church the concept of the Christian sinner reconciled by the authority of the Church did not exist. Only very slowly did the Church accustom herself to this concept. As a matter of fact, even after Penance was recognized as an institution of the Church, it was not called a Sacrament since it would be held as a disgraceful Sacrament.
47. The words of the Lord, "Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained'' (John 20:22-23), in no way refer to the Sacrament of Penance, in spite of what it pleased the Fathers of Trent to say.
48. In his Epistle (Ch. 5:14-15) James did not intend to promulgate a Sacrament of Christ but only commend a pious custom. If in this custom he happens to distinguish a means of grace, it is not in that rigorous manner in which it was taken by the theologians who laid down the notion and number of the Sacraments.
49. When the Christian supper gradually assumed the nature of a liturgical action those who customarily presided over the supper acquired the sacerdotal character.
50. The elders who fulfilled the office of watching over the gatherings of the faithful were instituted by the Apostles as priests or bishops to provide for the necessary ordering of the increasing communities and not properly for the perpetuation of the Apostolic mission and power.
51. It is impossible that Matrimony could have become a Sacrament of the new law until later in the Church since it was necessary that a full theological explication of the doctrine of grace and the Sacraments should first take place before Matrimony should be held as a Sacrament.
52. It was far from the mind of Christ to found a Church as a society which would continue on earth for a long course
of centuries. On the contrary, in the mind of Christ the kingdom of heaven together with the end of the world was about to come immediately.
53. The organic constitution of the Church is not immutable. Like human society, Christian society is subject to a perpetual evolution.
54. Dogmas, Sacraments and hierarchy, both their notion and reality, are only interpretations and evolutions of the Christian intelligence which have increased and perfected by an external series of additions the little germ latent in the Gospel.
55. Simon Peter never even suspected that Christ entrusted the primacy in the Church to him.
56. The Roman Church became the head of all the churches, not through the ordinance of Divine Providence, but merely through political conditions.
57. The Church has shown that she is hostile to the progress of the natural and theological sciences.
58. Truth is no more immutable than man himself, since it evolved with him, in him, and through him.
59. Christ did not teach a determined body of doctrine applicable to all times and all men, but rather inaugurated a religious movement adapted or to be adapted to different times and places.
60. Christian Doctrine was originally Judaic. Through successive evolutions it became first Pauline, then Joannine, finally Hellenic and universal.
61. It may be said without paradox that there is no chapter of Scripture, from the first of Genesis to the last of the Apocalypse, which contains a doctrine absolutely identical with that which the Church teaches on the same matter. For the same reason, therefore, no chapter of Scripture has the same sense for the critic and the theologian.
62. The chief articles of the Apostles' Creed did not have the same sense for the Christians of the first ages as they have for the Christians of our time.
63. The Church shows that she is incapable of effectively maintaining evangelical ethics since she obstinately clings to immutable doctrines which cannot be reconciled with modern progress.
64. Scientific progress demands that the concepts of Christian doctrine concerning God, creation, revelation, the Person of the Incarnate Word, and Redemption be re-adjusted.
65. Modern Catholicism can be reconciled with true science only if it is transformed into a non-dogmatic Christianity; that is to say, into a broad and liberal Protestantism.
The following Thursday, the fourth day of the same month and year, all these matters were accurately reported to our Most Holy Lord, Pope Pius X. His Holiness approved and confirmed the decree of the Most Eminent Fathers and ordered that each and every one of the above-listed propositions be held by all as condemned and proscribed.
- PETER PALOMBELLI, Notary of the Holy Roman and Universal Inquisition
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| Archbishop Lefebvre: Sermon on Religious Ignorance |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-09-2020, 12:11 PM - Forum: Sermons and Conferences
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The Angelus - July 2017
Religious Ignorance
A Lenten sermon by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
“The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there be any that understand and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together…” These words of the psalmist are echoed by St. Paul: “…they are inexcusable, because that, when they knew God, they have not glorified Him as God or given thanks; but became vain in their thoughts; and their foolish heart was darkened.”
How relevant these passages still are! How many people there are in our own day who care nothing for God or the things of Heaven, or who know nothing of the Christian religion and the mysteries of Christ! Worse yet, many baptized Christians still know little or nothing of their religion, and cannot even recite the most basic prayers. How many there are, some even university graduates, who are unable to distinguish between the true religion into which they were baptized and heresies and cults invented by men.
This ignorance may be excusable in those who have been brought up in a pagan environment and who are making praiseworthy efforts to escape from it, but there is no excuse for those who live in a Christian milieu and who, along with a certain degree of education, have everything which makes of man a creature truly made in the image of God.
Our Holy Father Pope Pius X said:
Quote:“Those who are still zealous for the glory of God seek to know why things divine are being held in less esteem. Some give one reason, some another, and according to his opinion each proposes a different means for the defense or the reestablishment of the Kingdom of God on earth. For Ourself, without wishing to disparage the opinions of others, we concur wholeheartedly with the judgment of those who attribute today’s spiritual laxity and weakness and their attendant grave ills, mainly to ignorance of the things of God. This is precisely what God spoke through the mouth of the Prophet Osee, saying: Quote:‘Cursing and lying and killing and theft and adultery have overflowed: and blood hath touched blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth in it shall languish.’”
How many there are who think they can make do with a religious education received before they were eleven years old, an age when one is nowhere near capable of mastering a secular science. It may be true that religion comes naturally to man, and that at an age when passions have not yet overshadowed intelligence the raising up of the heart and mind to God is easy and spontaneous, but at that stage of a human life, the true knowledge upon which conviction is based, and which will make it possible to resist the internal and external assaults of the devil and the world cannot be and have not been acquired.
What a crime is committed, albeit unknowingly, by those parents who can see no point in continuing their children’s religious education, once they have made their Profession of Faith [Editor’s note: at age 12 in France]. And how wrong are those folk who think religious knowledge is only good for children, that the adolescent and the adult should not be expected to learn anymore, and that a minimal religious observance—a late Sunday Mass and annual Easter Communion—is sufficient for living a good Christian life!
Small wonder if in the future we find Christians fulfilling only the strict minimum of obligations imposed by the Church, and otherwise living in the world like everyone else, without faith or morals. To quote Pius X again:
Quote:“Human will, led astray and blinded as it is by wicked passions, has need of a guide to show it the way and to bring it back into the paths of righteousness whence it has mistakenly wandered. We do not have to seek this guide outside ourselves, for it is given to us by nature, it is our own intelligence. If that is not truly enlightened, that is, if it lacks the knowledge of the things of God, then we shall be back to the situation of the blind leading the blind: they will both fall into the ditch.”
Worse yet, more often than not, an adolescent will give up the practice of his or her religion entirely and will soon abandon all moral standards, much to the distress of the priests and nuns who have tried everything to keep such young souls on the path of duty and eternal salvation. Alas, if it is true that adults are more than ever fascinated and captivated by all those inventions of modern science which are drawing the world into such a state of feverish activity; if it is true that the human spirit is ever more attracted by all that enslaves the senses, then how are the young to resist if there is not deep in their hearts and minds a still more powerful attraction towards God?
And such an attraction requires a more prefect knowledge of the unfathomable riches of God’s mercy, of His omnipotence, and the infinite love He has shown for us by making His Divine Son both our brother and our food. For does not Our Lord teach that “this is eternal life: that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent?” Are we going to cast away eternal life through ignorance of things divine just so that we may follow the attractions of this decaying and transitory life?
Modern man is displaying an almost pathological agitation, brought on by a sensual activity out of all proportions to the physical strength which God has given him. Radio, the cinema and a whole host of modern inventions are largely to blame for this, but these things would do less damage if people knew how to use them with moderation. This is not the case, however, and wherever we turn, we are faced with the spectacle of humanity rushing avidly in pursuit of intense sensual experiences. The effect upon the intelligence, whose activity depends so largely upon the nervous system, is all too evident. Children and young people have great difficulty concentrating at school, and adults find it hard to sustain any intellectual effort, or to give their minds to any one thing for long.
What are we to expect, then, when it comes to religious matters, where the senses have only a very small role to play, and where one has to rise above their limited perceptions if one is to grasp spiritual realities?
Nonetheless, there is no denying, as our Holy Father Pope Pius XI put it,
Quote:“that man created in the image and likeness of God has his destiny in Him Who is Infinite Perfection and, although modern material progress has brought with it an abundance of worldly goods, he is today more than ever aware of their inadequacy to bring true happiness to individuals and to nations. Thus, he feels more insistently within himself that aspiration towards a higher state of perfection which the Creator has implanted in the heart of rational nature.”
How, then, are we to overcome the ignorance of God and of the divine mysteries which prevent the realization of this noble aspiration to which Pope Pius refers?
First, we have to desire true wisdom, that is to say, understanding of the things of God. Next, we must seek this knowledge at its authentic source, and that is the Church. Finally, and above all, we must give ourselves over to prayer.
It is not enough for the priest to speak and write: the faithful must also attend to him with a genuine desire to learn.
“My son,” says the prophet, “lean not upon thine own prudence…seek wisdom…take hold on instruction, leave it not: keep it, because it is thy life…O men, it is to you that I say; hearken to me, for I have wondrous things to tell.” Thus he exhorts the faithful to pay heed to his words and gives himself as an example: “I desired wisdom and it was given to me; I have loved it and sought it from my youth.”
Let us beware of stifling in ourselves, and especially in the souls of our children, this desire to know and love God which is within every human being. As St. Augustine puts it, “Thou, O Lord, hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in Thee.” “As the heart panteth after the fountains of water” where it may slake its thirst, let us go, thirsting to the fount of wisdom.
All knowledge and all wisdom come from Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Splendor of the Eternal Father. It is of Him that the Old Testament speaks when it says: “Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits; he that harkeneth to me shall not be confounded…” and He Himself has said: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them life everlasting…He that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth Me…” The college of Apostles, with St. Peter at its head, is the Church, and the Church continues to speak by the mouths of its bishops and its priests. So he who would come to the knowledge of God must heed the priest, who teaches in the name of the Church.
Now, the priest teaches in many ways. On Sundays and Holy days, he preaches; in Lent he gives special courses of instruction, and in his conversation and when making pastoral visits he gives advice, refutes errors, and points out the way of truth. It is to be deplored that some of the faithful have, without reasonable cause, got into the habit of fulfilling their Sunday obligation by attending a Mass at which there is no sermon.
A priest also teaches by catechizing both children and adults. In this connection, parents must be mindful of their grave obligation to send their children to catechism, even in addition to their secular studies. Religious instruction is no less essential for children in state schools than for those attending Catholic establishments. It is one of the most vital of parental duties to do everything possible to supply whatever may be lacking in one’s children’s schooling.
It has been a source of great joy to see the dedicated laity offering to assist the Fathers in teaching catechism. I can assure them that their zeal is most pleasing to God and the Church, and that heaven will bless them for that.
Another way in which the Church teaches is through the printed word, whether in books, magazines, newspapers or other publications designed to nourish and enlighten the intellect and to inform it regarding the things of God.
The book par excellence for anyone wishing to know about God is, of course, the Holy Bible. His Holiness Pope Pius XII has written:
“Let the bishops lend their support to every initiative undertaken by zealous apostles with the laudable aim of promoting and nurturing among the faithful the knowledge and love the Holy Books. Let them therefore support and smooth the way for those pious associations whose purpose is to disseminate among the faithful copies of the Sacred Scriptures, especially the Gospels, and which encourage the devout reading of them each day in Christian families ... as St. Jerome says, “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ,” and “if there be one thing in this life which keeps a man virtuous, and convinces him to maintain the equanimity of his soul amid all the sufferings and torments of this world, I believe that thing to be the meditation and the knowledge of the Scriptures.”
With all my heart, I encourage you, the faithful, to adopt this excellent practice, recommended by Our Holy Father the Pope, of reading together as a family each day some passage from these inspired books.
Dearly beloved brethren, neglect nothing which can bring you to a greater knowledge of our holy religion, and of the Giver of all graces, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
What strength and consolation, what hope in trials and tribulations is this Christian faith of ours, which transports us to the realities of eternity even while we are yet here on earth! But our desire for the knowledge of God, our longing to draw from the wellsprings of Truth, must be accompanied by prayer, the prayer of the blind man on the road to Jericho. When Jesus asked him what he wanted he replied, “Lord, that I may see.” Imagine how that poor blind man must have uttered those words: “That I may see” even though he was asking only for the sight of transitory things. May we take up these words with a persistence and a longing which will touch the merciful heart of God. Let us make an effort to pray with greater humility, with greater contrition. A humbled and contrite heart God will not despise, and so the light of wisdom and knowledge will rise upon our souls, a dawning of peace and benediction, until the full day of the Lord shall shine on them forever in the eternity of the Blessed.
[Emphasis - The Catacombs]
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| New Study Claims Vaccinated Children Appear To Be “Significantly Less Healthy” |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-09-2020, 11:59 AM - Forum: Health
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New Study Claims Vaccinated Children Appear To Be “Significantly Less Healthy” Than Unvaccinated
Collective Evolution | December 7, 2020
What Happened: A new study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health has, according to the authors, discovered that vaccinated children require far more healthcare than unvaccinated children. At least that’s what they found from the group of children used to collect the data.
This type of study is interesting to see given the fact that studies comparing unvaccinated children to vaccinated children are lacking, there aren’t many of them. These studies are, as the authors state, “rarely conducted.”
Quote:None of the post licensure-vaccine safety studies have included comparisons to groups completely unexposed to vaccines.
The study concludes that “the unvaccinated children in this practice are not, overall, less healthy than the vaccinated and that indeed the vaccinated children appear to be significantly less healthy than the unvaccinated.
The data source for this study was all billing and medical records of Integrative Pediatrics, a private pediatric practice located in Portland, Oregon.
The study emphasizes the need for more research given the fact that, again, there is hardly any in this area. They concur with Mawson et al., 2017, who reported: “Further research involving larger, independent samples is needed to verify and understand these unexpected findings in order to optimize the impact of vaccines on children’s health” and with Hooker and Miller 2020, who wrote: “Further study is necessary to understand the full spectrum of health effects associated with childhood vaccination”.
These studies mentioned above also had similar findings.
According to the authors,
Quote:Vaccines are widely regarded as safe and effective within the medical community and are an integral part of the current American medical system. While the benefits of vaccination have been estimated in numerous studies, negative and nonspecific impact of vaccines on human health have not been well studied. Most recently, it has been determined that variation exists in individual responses to vaccines, that differences exist in the safety profile of live and inactivated vaccines, and that simultaneous administration of live and inactivated vaccines may be associated with poor outcomes. Studies have not been published that report on the total outcomes from vaccinations, or the increase or decrease in total infections in vaccinated individuals.
This is important because, although vaccinations in some cases may protect against the target disease, what else might they be doing not only on the short term, but in the long term? It’s also important to point out that in other cases, like the HPV vaccine, there is no evidence that they do protect against the target disease.
Another great example comes from a study published in 2017 that examined the introduction of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine (DTP) in an urban community in Guinea-Bissau in the early 1908s. They found that the DTP vaccine was associated with 5-fold higher mortality than being unvaccinated. The authors state the following:
Quote:All currently available evidence suggests that DTP vaccine may kill more children from other causes than it saves from diphtheria, tetanus or pertussis. Though (this) vaccine protects children against the target disease it may simultaneously increase susceptibility to unrelated infections.
This new study points out,
Quote:Pre-licensure clinical trials for vaccines cannot detect long-term outcomes since safety review periods following administration are typically 42 days or less. Long-term vaccine safety science relies on post-market surveillance studies using databases such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC’s) Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) and the Vaccine Safety Datalink. VAERS is a passive reporting system in which, according to Ross 2011 , “fewer than 1% of vaccine adverse events are reported.” The Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) can, in principle, according to the Institute of Medicine (IOM, 2013), be used to compare outcomes of vaccines and unvaccinated children. Based on the IOM’s recommendation, in 2016, the CDC published a white paper (CDC, 2016; Glanz et al., 2016) on studying the safety of their recommended pediatric vaccine schedule. Unfortunately, to date, no studies have been published comparing a diversity of outcomes of vaccinated and unvaccinated children.
Below is one of many interesting graphs from the study. The orange line represents the vaccinated children, and the blue one represents the unvaccinated.
![[Image: a-610x715.png]](https://s3.amazonaws.com/lrc-cdn/assets/2020/12/a-610x715.png)
For methods used, limitations, and more please refer to the study.
Quote:The parents that I work with in New York, that I see around the country are very concerned that their rights are being taken away, that their knowledge about the science is being pushed away by an agenda that only says, unvaccinated children are a problem.
No study has every been done in this country, appropriately, to address the health outcomes of children who are vaccinated versus the children who are unvaccinated. I have been seeing families in my practice for over 20 years, that have opted out of vaccination, they are the healthiest children I’ve ever seen. – Dr. Lawrence Palevsky, a NY licensed paediatrician
Why This Is Important: Given the fact that the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) has paid out approximately $4 billion dollars to families of vaccine injured children, there are clearly, in my opinion, some valid points here, especially against compulsory vaccinations. Again, as mentioned above, VAERS only accounts for an estimated 1 percent of vaccine injuries, this one percent is what is recorded.
A 2010 HHS pilot study by the Federal Agency for Health Care Research (AHCR) found that 1 in every 39 vaccines causes injury, a shocking comparison to the claims from the CDC of 1 in every million.
Take the MMR vaccine for example, if you search on VAERS, as of 2/5/19, the cumulative raw count of adverse events from measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines alone was: 93,929 adverse events, 1,810 disabilities, 6,902 hospitalizations, and 463 deaths. Again, don’t forget about that 1% figure cited in the study.
There are a number of legitimate concerns about vaccine safety that would require quite a long and very in-depth article, but I just wanted to let the reader know here briefly. Aluminum for example, is another concern I’ve written quite a lot about.
These are a few reasons as to why vaccine hesitancy is at an all time high, even among many physicians and scientists. This has actually been observed for a while. For example, one study published in the journal EbioMedicine in 2013 outlines this point, stating in the introduction:
Quote:Over the past two decades several vaccine controversies have emerged in various countries, including France, inducing worries about severe adverse effects and eroding confidence in health authorities, experts and science. These two dimensions are at the core of vaccine hesitancy (VH) observed in the general population. VH is defined as delay in acceptance of vaccination, or refusal, or even acceptance with doubts about its safety and benefits, with all these behaviours and attitudes varying according to context , vaccine and personal profile, despite the availability of vaccine services VH presents a challenge to physicians who must address their patients’ concerns about vaccines and ensure satisfactory vaccination coverage.
At a 2019 conference on vaccines put on by the World Health Organization this fact was emphasized by Professor Heidi Larson, a Professor of Anthropology and the Risk and Decision Scientist Director at the Vaccine Confidence Project. She is referenced, as you can see, by the authors in the study above. At the conference, she emphasized that safety concerns among people and health professionals seem to be the biggest issue regarding vaccine hesitancy.
She also stated,
Quote:The other thing that’s a trend, and an issue, is not just confidence in providers but confidence of health care providers, we have a very wobbly health professional frontline that is starting to question vaccines and the safety of vaccines. That’s a huge problem, because to this day any study I’ve seen… still, the most trusted person on any study I’ve seen globally is the health care provider…
Is there not enough information here alone to warrant informed consent? I have a hard time understanding how someone who would take the new COVID-19 vaccine, for example, would be worried about me contracting the virus if they are protected?
Why have we given governments the ability to mandate such actions? Why have we given them so much power to dictate what we do and how we want to live? Is this really how we want to live, is this really the kind of world we want to create?
A Deeper Discussion. What Do We Do About The Increasing Vaccine Pressure?
So many are concerned about mandatory vaccination. Further, many are starting to see that mandated vaccines may not be the future, but that services and options will be denied unless you can prove you have been vaccinated. Is it still the time to point the blame? Or is there a radical new approach we must take? A shift in our worldview, re-examining who we think we are, why we are here and what world we want to create is where we will begin to find the answers we are looking for. Has the dualistic fight the enemy method worked in the past? Are we not still here regardless of having used this method in the past? Maybe it’s time for a new conversation, one that looks at ourselves in a whole new light. This perhaps is how we will solve our ongoing challenges at their core.
[Emphasis mine.]
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| Archbishop Lefebvre: 1976 Interview with José Hanu in 'Vatican Encounter' |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-09-2020, 09:30 AM - Forum: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
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Vatican Encounter
A three-part series of excerpts from the book by José Hanu, Vatican Encounter.
From a book review:
Quote:It is a long interview between the Archbishop and a Dutch journalist, a concerned Catholic voicing the worries of many about the crisis in the Church. Much of the talk deals with the year 1976, the “hot summer” for the seminary of Ecône and for its founder, during the titanic tug of war with Pope Paul VI, which culminated in the meeting of the two protagonists by the end of the year. The interview was thus conducted only weeks after these events, right hot off the plate!
PART I
With this first installment, The Angelus [un-dated] begins a series of excerpts from "Vatican Encounter: Conversations with Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre" by José Hanu, with permission from the Publisher.
[Archbishop Lefebvre:]
The present work is a book of conversations. The initiative was taken by José Hanu, who wanted to serve as the voice of many Catholics concerned about the crisis in the Church.
Since he asked my agreement, I did not think I should refuse. After all, do I not have to profit from any occasion to preach the truth?
Like any other literary form, that of conversations has its limitations and its drawbacks. The questions cannot help but influence the answers, since they have to set up the framework for them. Besides, the one who asks them is led to choose one particular fact over another, not because it is more important, not even because it is closer to the truth, but because it fits the general direction of the conversation better than another.
In this book, the overall direction was dictated by José Hanu. Had I wanted to talk about my life myself, I would probably not have cited the same facts, nor insisted upon the same points. But, within this limit, I am nevertheless assuming all the responsibility for my replies. I hope that in this way I might contribute to the establishment of the social kingdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is my only aim.
On the Feast of the Immaculate Conception Ecône, December 8, 1976
[Interview takes place at] Ecône
José Hanu: Well, here we are, your Excellency, in the seminary of Ecône which has been the subject of so much talk. Let me first have a good look around.
How lovely and peaceful it is with its modern but modest buildings and the great stone house which once was the property of the Canons of the Great St. Bernard! It seems to be exactly right for its purpose. Besides, it is surrounded by symbols. The snowcapped Alps so close by shout out their purity and strength and the vineyards all around, planted by the monks and cultivated in the same way and always yielding a fine crop, show how effective thousand-year-old rules are.
The highpower lines which extend above the vines in no way bother them, as if to demonstrate that there is no incompatibility between adherence to the past and the demands of modern life.
I take a look at your seminarians, Excellency. They are a fine group of handsome, well-adjusted young men. Their eyes show no trace of disappointment, no anxiety, no fanaticism. They seem so much at ease within themselves and they are wearing the cassock with a kind of natural nobility.
In short, these young men look happy.
I take a look at you, yourself, Excellency, and I am really astonished. You are a seventy-one-year-old bishop who all his life was loyal to the Pope and the Vatican - and whom the Pope and the Vatican have severely punished in the full glare of publicity. You should be prostrate or in revolt. You are, however, serene. Even better than that, you are the embodiment of calm certainty, so rare in these hectic times.
When I look at your seminary, which has been called "wild," and when I see your seminarians whom your opponents have called "visionaries," I tell myself that there must be a tragic error somewhere, that the hullabaloo about your case has prevented Catholics from understanding the essentials, especially the essence of what you, yourself, Excellency, are. This will be the topic of our conversation.
First of all, let me say that my heart is heavy when I think of all those "progressive" Catholics, our brethren, who have slandered you; of the bishops who have mistaken the wind of a politico-religious mood, which too often is destructive, for the breath of the Holy Spirit; and of the Pope himself to whom the wind of this mood undoubtedly has brought incomplete information, either false or distorted.
But the noise of the mass media, their multitude of words, their rash judgments have hidden the core of the questions raised by your actions. These questions are serious and troubling for every Catholic who is attached to the Church.
My heart is heavy when I think of the possible consequences, for a bishop is, after all, also a man with his faults and foibles.
The tug of war between you and the Vatican, after your surprising audience with the Pope, has left an impression of uneasiness.
Then too, your homily at Lille has upset and shaken me. Your detractors were able to start a whole folklore about you and it came off reeking as triumphalism. It allowed certain people to exclaim: "He has finally dropped the mask: this is an archbishop of the extreme right! "
The trouble is that the right - and that includes the racist right - is trying to claim you; you have only to read the newspapers to be enlightened on this count! Now, as much as I deplore and distrust the faithful and the priests who read the gospel according to Marx, I also fear and reproach those who justify their ideas by pointing to the Cross.
I assume that your language has not expressed your convictions accurately and your enemies, as well as those who are "claiming" you, have lost no time in altering your thought even more.
Have you been, at this critical hour, the victim of Satan's trap? Or was it the Holy Spirit himself who pushed you too far, in order to prove to everybody that a man of the Church -no matter what his origins, his opinions, or his rank—should purge from his vocabulary political considerations which could drive a wedge between him and his brethren? I must admit that this latter explanation would not displease me at all. But I want to state it once and for all: regrettable or not, your sermon at Lille raised a question of capital importance that of the role of religion in society.
It will be with these matters that our dialogue will concern itself. Some of my questions may well seem sacrilegious to you.
Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre: Sacrilege? No question is sacrilegious, unless it implies statements which hurt God!
But don't expect too many shades of meaning on my part. I come from the North, where Flemish blood pulses through the veins of most of the inhabitants and the Flemish, as you well know, are famous for their bluntness. It would be difficult to say as much about the Italians and herein perhaps lie the reasons for some of my difficulties with the Vatican.
I refuse to admit, however, that a cause such as that of Our Lord Jesus Christ can be subject to the ups and downs of human thought.
We are beginning our dialogue on Christmas Eve, the feast which is the most hopeful feast of the entire year.
Therefore I wish with all my heart that the coming year will finally bring the solution to the crisis which has shaken the Church and which has caused us such painful problems. Our young priests will then be able to exercise their apostolate with the blessings and encouragement which are their due.
And how can one call "faithful" those who find it right to reject those rules and even the laws, or who tolerate - through weakness, if not by demagoguery - such shameful dismantling?
Or how can one designate as "faithful" those who refer respectfully to the Council but come to doubt the divinity of Christ, arguing the point even before the cameras of national television? And "rebels" those who, grounded in their faith, think that the Council Fathers, in their eagerness for an "opening to the world," have edited the texts which, with their imprecision, have opened the door to all sorts of fantasies, to put it kindly?
This was certainly not the intention of the bishops who were assembled at the Council, but the facts speak for themselves. I could quote them by the thousands and I am going to quote you a few right away, if you want me to.
In any case, believe me that I can well understand that Catholics of good faith could let themselves be carried away by baneful ideas and that they fight me they who constantly use the word “love.” - Indeed, if one measures the formidable pressures of the modern world, the hostility aimed at me seems natural and even logical.
Unfortunately, what has been lacking, what is always lacking, is firmness, courage, self-denial by those whose mission it is to be firm as rocks, whatever the price.
Consider the dismay of seminarians, for example, whose director of conscience, after having urged over many long years the supreme sacrifice of celibacy, reneges on his vows and marries a divorcee in the nearby chapel. After letting such an "accident" pass without an indignant outcry, can any bishop dare reproach a Catholic couple for breaking the marriage vow?
Still, I can understand the priests who - immerse themselves in the world, and the couple whose home life shifts grounds. What I really fail to comprehend is the pretense of judging us, a right which those responsible for such delinquency claim for themselves. Maybe in their heart of hearts they are ashamed of this false example of fidelity? Is it that they hope their conscience will be quieted when such an example is "justified"?
I shall make mine the famous motto: "I shall endure." And I say aloud what Catholics who may have been brainwashed, but whose heart is in the right place, feel in the depth of their souls.
So - don't be mistaken: I am not, I never want to be, I never shall be "the head of the traditionalists," as they want people to believe. As if I would enlist troops to attack the Vatican! This is ridiculous!
I have never "corralled" anybody. It happened simply that the day when I regretted that true vocations might not be able to find true seminaries, vocations presented themselves and many of the faithful and various priests gave us help.
Other faithful and other priests, sometimes huddled together in small places, have asked me to come and comfort them in their despair. Should I refuse to support them in their Catholic faith?
In addition, the suspension clamped on me has provided a publicity which I certainly have not desired.
It has alerted unhappy Catholics all over the world who before did not even know of my existence. They, in turn, are calling me. Whenever I can, I accept their invitation. But I do not direct them at all, I don't regroup them, and even less do I arm them against the Vatican: I simply recommend that they keep the faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit, and in the Virgin Mary, who - as I hope with all my heart - will make it possible for me to continue my mission within the bosom of the Church.
Therefore, I am not the head of a rebellion. I am only trying to be the shepherd who tries to tend a disoriented flock in the spirit of the first pastor and those who followed him.
This shepherd is now ready to answer your questions.
When I read articles in the press both of the left and of the right, or when I listen to the commentators on the radio, I often ask myself if I am dreaming, or if they talk in Chinese - for it is Greek to me. Well, as Beaumarchais said: "Slander, slander! Something can always be found to slander! " That is why slander is one of the best weapons in Satan's arsenal. About his existence I have no doubt - as you may have guessed, I take it?
Nor has there ever been any doubt about Satan's existence by His Holiness, Paul VI, who on February 29, 1972, declared:
Quote:"We have the impression that through some cracks in the wall the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God: It is doubt, uncertainty, questioning, dissatisfaction, confrontation."
[Red-font emphasis - The Catacombs]
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| Archbishop Lefebvre: 1986 Interview [Excerpt] |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-09-2020, 08:54 AM - Forum: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
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The Angelus - August 1986
The Archbishop Speaks: Interview with Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
Excerpts of an Interview with Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
Given to the Faithful 27 April 1986
St. Michael's Mission - Atlanta, Georgia
Q. Are there any cardinals in the Church at all who are with you?
A. There are some cardinals who, in their hearts are with us: The Cardinal of Toledo in Spain; Cardinal Siri of Genoa in Italy; Cardinal Thiandoum in Dakar, Senegal, Africa; Cardinals Oddi and Palazzini in Rome; and, Gagnon, a Canadian Cardinal. They are with us in their hearts, and when I speak with them they say, "Oh, you do good work. It is sure you work for the Church," but publicly, nothing.
Q. I have read that many of the high-ranking members of the Roman hierarchy are secret Masons. Is that true? If so, how deeply have they penetrated the Church?
A. It's very difficult to say, "This man is a Freemason," "This man is a Freemason," or "This man is a Freemason." We don't know. It's very difficult. It is certain that there are some cardinals, some bishops, cardinals in the Curia, or monsignors or secretaries of congregations in Rome that are Freemasons. That is certain because the Freemasons themselves have said that. They have said that they have in their lodge some priests and bishops. It is certain that there are some cardinals and many monsignors in Rome who do the same work as the Freemasons; they have the same thinking, the same mind. Willebrandt is Prefect of the Secretariat for the Unity of Christians, and Msgr. Silvestrini is the first secretary of Cardinal Casaroli who is Secretary of State—and his right hand is Silvestrini. He is a great power in the Curia. He nominates all the nuncios in the world. He has a very great influence and he is probably a Freemason.
Q. Some people feel that if you keep going to the New Mass and stay in your own parishes you can fight from within. What do you think of this approach?
A. No, I think that is not good, because if they are going to the New Mass, slowly, slowly, they change their mind and become, slowly, slowly Protestant. It is very dangerous to go to the New Mass regularly, each week, because the New Mass is not some accidental change, but it is a whole orientation, a new definition of the Mass. It has not the same definition as the true Mass. You can see that, in the New Mass, the "assembly" is the focal point. It is no longer Jesus Christ Crucified, the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. No. That is why, in the Tridentine Mass, the priest faces toward the crucifix, because Jesus Christ Crucified is central in the true Mass. But, in the New Mass, the priest is facing the "assembly," and he is president of a "meeting." It is no longer the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our King, our Savior. That is a very great change in the New Mass and it is very dangerous. It is a Protestant orientation. And so—slowly, slowly—people going to this Mass change and for them, gradually, all religions are good; all are brothers—even if they are not the same religion and have not the same mind in religion. That is very dangerous. We cannot say that all religions are the same thing—that they are all good religions. That is very dangerous.
Q. Are these people then no longer Catholic?
A. I think that—slowly, slowly—they abandon the Catholic Faith. They are no longer Catholic. I think that very slowly they have abandoned the Catholic Faith.
Q. What is your feeling about the future of the Catholic Church? Do you think there will be an open schism?
A. We can say that right now there is perhaps no real schism, but we are very near it, because, when they say that all religions are on the same level, hold the same place and receive the same consideration, the same respect, that is against the teaching of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church cannot accept that all religions are considered on the same level as herself. That is impossible because the Catholic Church is convinced and teaches that the Catholic Church is the only true religion, founded by Jesus Christ, by God. We cannot say that God established three or four religions. That is not true. Jesus Christ is God; and, if Jesus Christ is God, He founded the Catholic Church, then we cannot say that other religions are the same as the Catholic Church. That is impossible. It's against God; it's against the decision of God and does not depend on us.
Now we see in the newspaper that the Pope has gone to India where he received the sign of the pagan sect on his forehead. I don't understand! And when he went to the synagogue, he didn't say, "You Jews must convert to the Catholic Church," as did St. Paul and St. Peter and all the Apostles when they were in the synagogue. When they went to the synagogue, they said to the Jews—to their brother Jews—they said: "You must become Christian now. The Old Testament is the preparation for the New, the preparation for Christ's Kingdom. You must now become Christians." But they were put out of the synagogue and they were killed. Some Apostles were killed by the Jews because they spoke the truth. But now the Pope says, "Oh, your religion is very good, you are our older brothers." Incredible! Incredible! The Pope is not a missionary when he says that. He is not a missionary, no longer a true Apostle. That is very, very sad, very sad, for the Catholic Church.
Q. Is it possible that Traditionalists, at the death of this Pope, could elect the next one?
A. The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, and who has the power to choose the Bishop of Rome? In the beginning it was the priests—the parish priests of Rome—who elected a bishop and the bishop became the Bishop of Rome, and when he became Bishop of Rome he became bishop of the whole world. He was the successor of St. Peter, because St. Peter was the first Bishop of Rome. And so they elected the successor of St. Peter—and when the successor of St. Peter takes his place in the chair of St. Peter—he is Pope. He is Pope because he is the Bishop of Rome, because he sits in the seat of St. Peter. That is a duty of the clergy in Rome, to elect a new Pope, and all cardinals are parish priests in Rome. They can elect the Pope because they are parish priests in Rome. We don't know what is to happen. We don't know.
Q. Why has Our Lady's request at Fatima not been fulfilled?
A. I think because now the Pope and the bishops are afraid of the Communists. If the bishops with the Pope consecrate Russia to the Blessed Virgin of Fatima—to the Immaculate Heart of Mary—they are afraid that the Communists will be furious. And now, with ecumenism, they want to be friends with the Communists, and it's very difficult to be friends with the Communists and make this consecration. The Pope is afraid. He's afraid. He wants to be very good friends with the Communists and he hopes that perhaps one day the Communists will give freedom to the Catholic Faith in all Communist countries, but that is impossible. Then they would no longer be Communists.
Q. You have met Father Nelson at Powers Lake, North Dakota. In the last issue of the "Maryfaithful" we learn that the Bishop of Billings has said that Father Nelson is not in communion with Rome—he did not ask the bishop's permission to put on the Marian Hour.
A. I know. I met Father Nelson in Rapid City four or five days ago. He is now persecuted by his bishop, but he is not the first; we are all persecuted by the bishop(s). But we must not be troubled and I encourage Father Nelson and his sisters—he has good sisters there—and he is doing good work. So I encourage him to remain and to continue even if the bishop does not treat him kindly.
Q. We hear a lot about the "spirit of Vatican II." Since you were there, could you perhaps give us your impression of the "spirit of Vatican II"?
A. Somebody asked me: "Monseigneur, do you think that the Holy Ghost was in the Council of Vatican II?" I do not know! The Holy Ghost could have been there. I think that if the Pope had been very strong, very much opposed to error—Modernist error—it would have been possible to have a good Council. But already, before the Council, in the Central Commission—I was in the Central Commission to prepare for the Council—and already, in this Commission, there were two factions in the cardinals and bishops—two groups—who fought against each other—the Liberals against the Conservatives. I must say that the Pope took the side of the Liberals. And so, once things got underway, the Council became liberal. It is impossible that this comes from the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is not Liberal.
Q. Is it possible that Rome will give you permission to consecrate a bishop for the Tridentine Mass to continue?
A. It would be possible, but I don't think it's possible now. It is not possible now. They are too against Tradition, too against us because we uphold Tradition. So it is impossible to think that they will, themselves, consecrate or give us permission to consecrate a bishop for the Traditionalists. Not now. I don't know when, but not now.
Q. Our Lord promised that the Church would never err. As Rome errs, it becomes obvious to me that the true Church must no longer be with the men in Rome who are in error. Then where does the flock look for the infallibility which we must have in order to remain faithful?
A. It is a real problem now, that is true, but I cannot give the solution to this problem. The men in Rome—are they still Catholic or no longer Catholic?—that is the question. I think that—slowly, slowly—we see the unfolding events as a movie. Today, the Pope is in Africa, in Togo, where he went to the pagan forest and where he did something incredible. After that he went to India where he received the pagan sign. After that, he went to the synagogue. It is like a movie. Tomorrow, what will he be doing? I don't know. And so, you ask yourself: "This man, is he still Catholic or is he no longer a Catholic?" I don't know. I think we may ask the question, but I have no answer now. It is impossible. If one of the faithful had done these things, we would have said: "Oh, but you are no longer Catholic!" And if Rome were the Rome of the past—as she had always been before the Second Vatican Council—if a bishop had done these things he would have been excommunicated by Rome. They don't do that now. This man is the successor of St. Peter. It is a very grave question; it is very sad for all Catholics—for me, and for priests. And so, we must pray to know and, perhaps one day, we must say that this man is not Catholic. It's very, very sad; it's very extraordinary; it's a great mystery of the Church. We cannot follow a man who no longer teaches Catholic truth. It's very, very tragic.
Q. But the question remains: where to look?
A. For us, it's not a problem to know what is the source of our faith: our Catholic Faith. We must look at what was before us. Tradition is the Faith. St. Pius X said: "The Catholic is traditionalist." Se we must look at Tradition and know that all teaching of Tradition is Catholic. We follow Tradition.
Q. About the sacraments, when do we know if they are invalid or valid in the New Mass? It is very confusing. Will there be a point when they are not valid any more? What about baptism, marriage?
A. The answer to that is found in the principles of theology. For the validity of a sacrament you must have three things: proper matter, proper form and proper intention, the intention of the priest. Those are the three conditions which determine the validity of the sacrament. I cannot say, myself, that for all sacraments in the Conciliar Church, these three conditions are never met. I don't think we can say that. But I think with new priests, with priests who no longer have Catholic intentions, they don't know what the proper intention is, the intention of the Church, so that perhaps the validity of their sacraments is at least doubtful.
Interpolation by Father Laisney: There are three things required for a valid sacrament: valid matter, proper form and the proper intention in the minister and it is not true to say that it never happens that the sacraments are invalid in the Novus Ordo. There are some valid baptisms, some valid Masses, but, especially with new priests who are not trained properly, who do not know what should be the intention of the Church—for instance with the Mass, they think the Mass is just a meal—then the intention becomes doubtful, and there is at least a doubt in many modern Masses. At least a doubt. Moreover, you must add the bad translation. For instance, with "for many" replaced by "for all men," which is a change in the very words of consecration. This raises another doubt on the validity of the consecration. And so you have the intention of the minister that becomes doubtful. If the minister in baptism, for instance, says: "Oh, it's just a rite of initiation"—if they reject the intention to remove Original Sin, then the intention is not proper. Because they are trained in the new way, then the intention is sometimes doubtful. Sometimes, but not always—if you have an old priest. You know they are good Catholics and this old priest would have a good intention.
Q. Could you tell me how many priests are now in the Society of St. Pius X, and how many priests who are not members of the Society have joined in your work?
A. Since the foundation of the Society I have ordained 250 priests. In the Society there are 152, and 100 more or less who are Benedictine monks or Dominicans or Franciscans. Some have abandoned the Society—they were members—but they continue more or less the same way. We have also many priests who resist Modernism, who resist the demolition of the Church—they are very numerous. They are more numerous than priests of the Society. I think I can say that here in the States there are perhaps 100 priests who say the Mass privately; they are afraid of their bishop and they say the old Mass privately. In France there are about 250 priests who say the Old Mass but who are not members of the Society, with a similar situation in Switzerland. It is the same in Germany. There are far fewer in Italy and in Spain—very few, very, very few. They all follow the bishop. In Portugal, in Spain, in Italy, in South America, very, very few priests resist Modernism.
Q. I correspond with a lot of people behind the Iron Curtain, mainly in Lithuania. There, at the local level, in parishes and small villages, only the Tridentine Mass is said. No other Mass is said.
A. This is true, especially in Lithuania—but there are so many Lithuanian priests in jail, in prison. The persecution is worse than in other countries. It is very, very hard.
Q. The faithful in Lithuania, and the priests themselves, have asked the Vatican to allow the Church to go underground so that they would not have to ask for permission from the Communist government to be a priest or to be a bishop, but the Vatican will not allow this, but we have some young seminarians and priests secretly.
A. Yes, it is possible. In Rome now, the Vatican wants to be friends with the Communist governments. So they don't want the priests and bishops to do things opposed by the Communist government in Lithuania, or in Poland, or any country under the influence of Communism. It is the same everywhere. We never hear now of Rome condemning the Communists. No condemnation of the Communists in the Council either! I gave to the secretary of the Council, four hundred and fifty signatures of bishops—I myself gave these signatures to the secretary—the request by the bishops to condemn the Communists. And they didn't condemn the Communists; they refused. Four hundred and fifty signatures and no condemnation of the Communists! It's incredible!
Q. If there was a war in, say, Italy, and something happened to the Pope and cardinals there, who would then elect a new pope?
A. That belongs to the parish priests of Rome. Or if there were no more parish priests in Rome—if Rome should just disappear—then there is a problem. God provides. It is in the hands of God.
Q. In the case when the papacy was in France, when the pope did not reside in Rome, is it possible that that could happen again?
A. He was still elected as Bishop of Rome by the clergy of Rome.
Q. Father Laisney: May I ask a question? Your Grace, what is your practical advice to the faithful?
A. I think we must keep studying the history of the Church. It is very important to see the development of the bad errors in the Church. From the Protestant error, until the Second Vatican Council, until now, it is very important to see that it is a work of evil, it is a work of Satan. Change has brought about revolution. There has absolutely been a revolution in the attitude of the Catholic mind. The Catholic attitude is one of dependence, a disposition to obey. In his heart the Catholic has obedience to God, obedience to the commandments of God. He has in his heart devotion to and adoration of God. But since the Protestant revolt, there ensues a revolt of man against God. Man is free—free to interpret himself all things that come from God. God is now at the service of man, man is no longer at the service of God. There is absolute change. And this change goes on and on and on in the whole world. All states align themselves against God; they become independent of God, become free of the commandments of God. And now, in the Church, it is the same. They don't follow Jesus Christ Himself, and they don't follow the commandments of God; they follow this revolution. It is a true revolution.
The theology of liberation—it is nothing but the revolt of man against society, the society founded by God. It's the same in the family; they destroy families. The father is no longer the head of the family. That is against the will of God. God created the family with a head, of his wife and their children—that is very well organized by God. But now, no, no, no. In Switzerland, for example, they have announced that the wife can ask from her husband a salary for the hours she works in the home. That is the law of Switzerland right now. It is incredible! That is the law since last September 22nd. And the bishops said it is a good thing! Yes! And the law passed because the bishops sent a letter to all the faithful saying: "You must support this new law." Incredible! I preached in Switzerland against the bishops, you know. They are no longer true bishops, Catholic bishops. They destroy the family. The wife now has the liberty to have another house in which to live apart from her husband. Incredible! It is the destruction of the family. And the same for society. In society, now, each man does as he likes, and he is encouraged by law, the laws of the state. Now, the laws of the state are opposed to the laws of God. That is the revolution and the revolution comes from Protestantism. And—slowly, slowly—we have all the consequences.
And now, we Catholics, I think we must return to the good revolution—the revolution we received in baptism. The grace of baptism is a revolution. We were under the influence of Satan, we were under the influence of the devil, but by the grace of baptism we are under the influence of God, we are sons of God and we are sons of Jesus Christ. We receive this life of God in our souls and so all virtues come from this life of God. And by the sacraments, by prayer and by the practice of the commandments of God, we make a revolution—to refer our lives, our bodies, our souls to God. So it is a revolution, a good revolution, that Jesus Christ has done by His Resurrection, by His Incarnation, by our redemption—that is, the sanctification of our souls. If we are true Catholics we must have this conviction that we must renew our souls by this dependence on God.
It is the same in our families, dependence on God in our families. Keep the commandments of God in your families; keep the commandments of God in society. That is the will of God. I think that is a special invitation for us now in this sad situation in the Church. Why Jesus Christ chose you and me to continue this work, the work of the redemption of Jesus Christ, the work of the Catholic Church, to return to true Catholicism and not be under the influence of this evil revolution—why He chose you and me?—we don't know. I give you this advice and encouragement: that is, the source of peace, the source of satisfaction, the source of joy, is in your families when they are under the influence of God, the influence of Jesus Christ, the influence of the Blessed Virgin Mary. When they pray together, when each member of the family works in its proper place, the husband head of the family, the wife the heart of the family under the authority of her husband, and the children under the authority of their parents, that is a good Christian family.
But everywhere this revolution is a rebellion against all authority. This equality is against the will of God, against the creation of God. That is very important.
I think that God asks us now to return to the true Tradition of the Church, and to continue this Tradition of the Church, to renew families, to renew society and the Church also—a true renovation. I think that this is a great grace for us to remain in this spirit—this Catholic spirit.
It is not my orientation, my attitude—I say many times to the seminarians in Ecône, and in Ridgefield, and everywhere in our seminaries: "Don't say, 'We follow Mgr. Lefebvre,' no! Why Mgr. Lefebvre? He's no saint! But you follow Jesus Christ and the Tradition of the Church. You remain Catholic! What more do you want? No other thing!" I refuse to say, "I am the chief of the people who follow tradition." No, no, no, no! I am a Catholic bishop, no more, and I continue my work to preach Catholic doctrine. I do my work to prepare Catholic priests, and through them, the Catholic faithful, and no other thing. No! Don't say "the doctrine of Mgr. Lefebvre." I have no doctrine. I have no new teaching. My teaching is that of the Church, the teaching of the Catholic Church and the catechism of the Council of Trent. That is very important—to remain in the true way—and not to give the impression that you have founded a new Church. That is what the Modernists are doing—they build a new church. We don't build a new church; we follow the Catholic Church of always.
Thank you very much.
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| Archbishop Lefebvre: 1976 Excerpt - 'We do not want to be destroyers of the Church' |
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Posted by: Stone - 12-09-2020, 08:48 AM - Forum: Sermons and Conferences
- Replies (1)
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The Angelus - January 1988
The Archbishop Speaks
Excerpts from a Sermon preached by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre on 4 July 1976 in Geneva, Switzerland
On the occasion of the First Solemn High Mass of Father Denis Roch
(The full text of this sermon can be found in Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre.)
My Dear Monsieur l'Abbé,
My Dear Friends,
My Dear Brothers,
It is not in this Exhibition Hall that your first Mass should have taken place, you being a child of this city. It is in a large and beautiful church of the City of Geneva that you should have celebrated this ceremony so dear to the hearts of all the Catholics of Geneva. But, as Providence has decided otherwise, here you are before the crowd of your friends, or your relatives, of those who want to share your joy and the honor which God has done you of being His priest, a priest for ever.
The history of your vocation is the implementation of a plan. And I shall say what our plan is.
You were born of Protestant parents in this City of Geneva, and in childhood and youth you followed the teaching of the Protestant religion. You were well educated, and you had a profession which gave you all the world can hope for here below. Then, all of a sudden, touched by the grace of God through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin May, you abruptly decided, under the influence of that grace, to direct yourself to the true Church, the Catholic Church; and you desired not only to become a Catholic but also to become a priest.
I can still see you arriving for the first time at Ecône; and I confess that it was not without a certain apprehension that I received you, asking myself if so rapid a passage from Protestantism to the desire of becoming a Catholic priest was not an inspiration with no future. That is the reason why you stayed some time at Ecône reflecting more deeply on the desire within you, your aspiration to the priesthood. We all admired your perseverance, your will to reach that goal, despite your age, despite a certain weariness of ecclesiastical studies, of the study of philosophy, theology, Scripture, Canon Law for you were a scientist.
And now, by God's grace, after those years of study at Ecône you have received the grace of sacerdotal ordination. It seems to me to be difficult for anyone who has not received that grace to realize what the grace of priesthood is. As I said to you a few days ago at the time of the ordination: You can no longer say that you are a man like other men; that is not true. You are no longer a man like other men, henceforward you are marked with the sacerdotal character which is something ontological, which marks your soul and puts it above the faithful. Yes, whether you are a saint, or, which God forbid, whether you are like priests who are, perhaps, alas, in hell: they still have the sacerdotal character. This sacerdotal character unites you to Our Lord Jesus Christ, to the priesthood of Our Lord Jesus Christ in a very special way, a participation which the faithful cannot have; and that is what permits you to pronounce the words of consecration of Holy Mass and in a way make God obey your order, your words. At your words, Jesus Christ will come personally, physically, substantially under the species of bread and wine; He will be present on the altar and you will adore Him; you will kneel to adore Him, to adore the presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ. What an extraordinary reality! We need to be in heaven and even in heaven shall we understand what the priest is? Is it not St. Augustine who says "Were I to find myself before a priest and an angel, I should salute the priest first, before the angel''?
So, then, here you are, become a priest. I said that the history of your vocation is a whole plan, it is our plan. That is profoundly true, because we have the Catholic Faith and are not afraid to affirm our faith; and I know that our Protestant friends, who are perhaps here in this assembly, approve of us. They approve of us: they need to feel the presence amongst them of Catholics who are Catholics who are Catholics, and not Catholics who appear to be in full accord with them on points of faith. One does not deceive one's friends; we cannot deceive our Protestant friends. We are Catholics; we affirm our faith in the divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, we affirm our faith in divinity of the Holy Catholic Church, we think that Jesus Christ is the sole way, the sole truth, the sole life, and that one cannot be saved outside Our Lord Jesus Christ and consequently outside His Mystical Spouse, the Holy Catholic Church. No doubt, the graces of God are distributed outside the Catholic Church; but those who are saved, even outside the Catholic Church, are saved by the Catholic Church, by Our Lord Jesus Christ, even if they do not know it, even if they are not aware of it, for it is Our Lord Himself Who has said it: "You can do nothing without Me—nihil potestis facere sine me." You cannot come to the Father without going by Me. "When I shall be lifted up from the earth," says Our Lord Jesus Christ, meaning He will be on His cross, "I shall draw all souls to Me.'' Only Our Lord Jesus Christ, being God, could say such things: no man here below can speak as Our Lord has spoken, because He alone is the Son of God, He is our God….Tu solus altissimus, tu solus Dominus. He is Our Lord, He is the Most High, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is for that that Ecône remains in being, it is for that that Ecône exists, because we believe that what the Catholics have taught, what the Popes have taught, what the Councils have taught for twenty centuries, we cannot possibly abandon. We cannot possibly change our faith: we have our Credo, and we will keep it till we die. We cannot change our Credo, we cannot change the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we cannot change our Sacraments, changing them into human works, purely human, which no longer carry the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is because, in fact, we feel and are convinced that in the last fifteen years something has happened in the Church, something has happened in the Church which has introduced into the highest summits of the Church, and into those who ought to defend our faith, a poison, a virus, which makes them adore the golden calf of this age, adore, in some sense, the errors of this age. To adopt the world, they wish to adopt also the errors of the world; by opening on to the world, they wish also to open themselves to the errors of the world, those errors which say, for example, that all religions are of equal worth. We cannot accept that, those errors which say that the social reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ is now an impossibility and should no longer be sought. We do not accept that. Even if the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ is difficult, we want it, we seek it, we say every day in the Our Father: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." If His will were done here below as it is done in heaven—imagine what it would be like if God's will were really done here below as it is done in heaven: it would be paradise on earth! That is the reign of Our Lord which we seek, which we desire with all our strength, even if we never achieve it; and, because God has asked that from us, even if we have to shed our blood for that kingdom we are ready. And this is what the priests are whom we form at Ecône, priests who have the Catholic Faith, priests such as have always been formed.
* * *
So, something has happened in the Church: the Church since the Council, already some time before the Council, during the Council, and throughout the reforms, has chosen to take a new direction, to have Her new priests, Her new priesthood, a new type of priest as has been said, She has chosen to have a new Sacrifice of the Mass, or rather let us say a new Eucharist; She has chosen to have a new catechism, She has chosen to have new seminaries, She has chosen to reform Her religious congregations. And what have we now come to? A few days ago I read in a German paper that in the last few years there are three million fewer practicing Catholics in Germany. Cardinal Marty, himself, he who also condemns us. Cardinal Marty, Archbishop of Paris, has said that Mass attendance is down fifty per cent in his diocese since the Council.
Who will say that the fruits of that Council are marvelous fruits of holiness, fervor, and growth of the Catholic Church?
They have chosen to embrace the errors of the world, they have chosen to embrace the errors which come to us from Liberalism, and which come to us alas, it must be said from those who lived here four centuries ago, from those reformers who have spread Liberal ideas throughout the world; and those ideas have at last penetrated to the interior of the Church. This monster which is at the interior of the Church must disappear, so that the Church may find Her own nature again, Her own authenticity, Her own identity. That is what we are trying to do, and it is why we continue: we do not want to be destroyers of the Church. If we stop, we shall be certain, convinced, that we are destroying the Church, as those are engaged in destroying Her who are steeped in that false idea. And so we wish to go on with the construction of the Church, and we cannot do better to get the Church built than to make these priests, these young priests—showing always the example of a deep Catholic faith, of an immense charity. I think I can say that it is we who have a true charity towards Protestants, towards all those who do not have our faith. If we "believe our Catholic faith, if we are convinced that God has really given His graces to the Catholic Church, we have the desire of sharing our riches with our friends, giving them to our friends. If we are convinced that we have the truth, we should exert ourselves to make it known that the truth can benefit our friends as well. It is a failure in charity to hide one's truth, to hide one's personal riches and not let those profit from them who do not have their own. Why have missions, why set off to distant countries to convert souls, if not because one is certain of having the truth and desirous of sharing the graces received with those who have not yet received them? It is indeed Our Saviour Who said: "Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. He that believeth shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be condemned." That is what Our Saviour said. Strengthened by these words, we continue our apostolate, trusting in Providence: it is not possible that this condition of the Church should remain indefinitely.
[Emphasis - The Catacombs]
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